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The foot of Ferry Street has long been one of my favorite vantage points to look over Ludington harbor. Winter sunrises provide some of the best views. The carferry Badger is at left and the carferry City of Midland (since converted to a barge) at right.

Ludington 2022\2023 New Years Celebration. This is Day one of Celebrating Ludingtons 150th Year

Eben Ice Caves

Eben Ice Caves

My dad and I would probably never have ventured across the ice on Lake Superior to the Grand Island Ice Caves if it were not for Facebook. We both spend a lot of time on Facebook looking at other Michigan photographer's work. Several people had been posting excellent photographs of the ice caves near Munising, Michigan and we knew we had to go. We called our friends Mike Schlitt, Bill Dietrich, and Wally Barkley and the five of us made the journey to Grand Island. D7000, F9 at 1/60, ISO 100, 10-20mm lens at 10mm

Grand Island Ice Caves

Ice Behemoths

From shore, the Ludington lighthouse resembled a giant ice sculpture after an early winter gale subsided. I knew I needed to get close to get the strongest photograph. The treacherously slippery hike to the lighthouse left me questioning whether I should have attempted it. The view in front of my camera gave me my answer. As darkness was closing in, I was slipping and sliding my way back to shore, questioning my sanity but feeling good that I had mad this picture envisioned from shore.

Epworth On Ice

Rugged ice and towering waves define the Lake Michigan shoreline in the coldest winter months. On cold, clear days when the sun graces us with its presence, the ice displays different shades of blue and white. On this day, my friend, Rob Alway, and I made our way out on the ice and we each came away with some powerful photographs.

I have photographed this grand old maple tree in one of Pete Conrad’s farm fields on Conrad Road in Amber Township for years. On this October day, I loved the bright yellow foreground provided by the asparagus field, which was turning color along with the magnificent maple and the hardwoods beyond.

We often teach our workshop students that the main subject of your photograph does not have to be a very big part of the final composition. This photograph of Grand Traverse Light is a good example of that concept. The Lake Michigan ice formation in the foreground becomes the focal point of the photograph and the lighthouse in the distance becomes more of an added ingredient and helps identify the location.

Jagged icicles in the foreground create a unique look at the Lake Michigan shoreline. The ice formation changed before my eyes with each powerful wave that pummeled the shore.

After careful risk assessment, my son Brad has worked his way to the top of one of the tallest mounds of ice piled high in the Straits of Mackinac. He is determined to make a close-up image of one of the nature-made ice sculptures with the Mackinac Bridge as the backdrop. Knowing from my many years of ice rescue training in the Coast Guard that "no ice is safe ice," I am standing by with an assortment of ice rescue gear to assist if necessary.

Open water is often difficult for Michigan waterfowl to find during the heart of winter. This mute swan rests on the ice on Lincoln Lake while taking a break from feeding in adjacent open water.

Iced

It is cold but perfectly still this morning as horses catch the rising sun in their pasture at the West Shore Equestrian Center near Sugar Grove, Michigan.