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Dwight “Scotty” Scott was my step-grandpa. As a little kid, I loved my Papa Scotty. I spent a lot of time at his restaurant Scotty’s in Ludington. Unfortunately, his original restaurant, Scotty’s Wren’s Roost, located on the middle bayou of Hamlin Lake, had burned to the ground a year before I was born. A family friend gave me an original coffee mug from there and I photographed it tonight.

For an early birthday present, Rachel bought us tickets to go parasailing over Grand Traverse Bay together. It was something I had always wanted to do. At first, she was more nervous than me, but once we got up into the air, she was all smiles and calm as could be. I was the one who was having to work really hard to relax and not freak out. I love this photo of her I made with my cell phone.

Brad can be a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I am not. Parasailing seemed to be just the right combination for a surprise birthday gift to him. To my surprise, I loved it! We had a blast, and definitely want to do it again with the kids!

When my Grandma Reed died last year, each family got to pick out one of her large Santa dolls. I leave this Santa out all year for us to enjoy and to remember all the wonderful Christmas gatherings at my Grandpa and Grandma Reed’s house. I used my macro lens and made this close-up image tonight.

I am very proud of Kasey and her first cross country season. She is running in Evart today at SpringHill Camp. Due to COVID-19, they split the large invitational up into three groups of teams to keep the athlete and spectator numbers low.

My brother Tad called me today to see if I could photograph the Bud Light Seltzer Jeep and models that were touring the country doing promotions. Tad is a fourth-generation co-owner of Ludington Beverage, which distributes Anheuser-Busch products, along with a lot of craft beers. I met the crew down at the Loomis Street Boat Ramp and went to work..

Ethan had an away soccer game today that was in a beautiful farm setting between Holland and Grand Rapids. I love watching my kids playing sports and being active. I am so glad they were able to have a soccer season this fall.

After a fun night of hanging with the guys at the golf outing, we teed off at Hawk Hollow golf course near Lansing. I found this hand-carved hawk statue in the clubhouse and knew I had found my photo of the day.

While driving around downtown Ludington today doing errands, I noticed this heart shape inside of a stained-glass window. This window is in one of the large historic homes near Ludington Avenue. I am always on the lookout for hearts.

For years Julia and Ethan went to Elaine Buskirk’s daycare in Ludington. They are old enough now that they don’t need to go to daycare, and we always miss seeing Elaine. While driving in our old neighborhood near Lakeview School today, I spotted one of Elaine’s cool Halloween pumpkins in her front yard. Elaine’s sister makes these entertaining Halloween decorations.

My Uncle Budde and Aunt Sheryl have an extraordinarily beautiful home just north of the Ludington City Beach on Lake Michigan. This is the view out of their dining room. They both have excellent decorating style.

I surprised my kids last night and pulled up at home in a new Chevy Trail Boss pickup truck. Today we had to drive to Grand Rapids for Ethan’s soccer game. On the way home, we took the scenic tour at the rest area between Pentwater and Ludington. We had zero traffic and wonderful fall color, so it was the perfect place to get a fall photo to send to Pure Michigan.

I was hoping for clear skies to photograph the Halloween “Blue Moon,” a rare treat for a spooky day. It is supposed to be the first full moon on Halloween in 76 years. The weather had other plans, and the cloud cover didn’t allow for a view. Once we got back home, David’s costume was a fun photo to make.

We try to carve pumpkins every year. By having a longer exposure and zooming in and out during it, it gives the jack-o-lantern an extra eerie glow.

The kids were raking leaves up at my aunt’s house. It was the perfect fall day for jumping in a huge leaf pile! David Benjamin jumped in, and then covered himself up to scare his little brother Joshua. I couldn’t resist making this image.

We are HUGE Michigan State fans. My boys’ bedroom is painted green and white, with a large Fathead vinyl print of Sparty on one of the walls. They also have State-themed sheets and bedspreads.

I left work early today so that David Benjamin and I had a chance to get back out in the deer hunting woods. It is nice to spend quality one-on-one time with each of my kids. We didn’t see any deer, but we watched several squirrels while we were out there.

My grandma, Dorothy Reed, always loved chickens and cows. She had lots of art that was chicken or cow themed. While photographing this giant metal chicken in front of the Jolly Plate restaurant on US-31 north of Scottville, I was smiling thinking of my grandma in Heaven.

While sitting with Julia this morning deer hunting in our apple orchard tower on our family hunting property, we were laughing, and she was telling me fun stories about her friends. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. I turned and saw this mature buck standing broadside looking at us about 70 yards away. I told Julia to grab her gun. Without hesitation, she made a perfect shot with her grandpa’s gun.

My dad taught me a long time ago that you need to learn to see like your camera sees. Using my 85mm prime lens with a huge aperture opening of F1.4, I was able to make the green pine trees in my backyard look like a completely black background as I made this image on my back deck. I am proud to be a part of a 4th generation Anheuser-Busch wholesaler family, so I made this image to honor my family.