Search

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 had my first experience hunting at Legends Ranch in Bitely, Michigan tonight. Although I didn’t see a shooter for me, it was a wonderful experience. I left the ranch and drove the 40 minutes back to Custer to pick up the kids from the farm. By the time I got them home it was almost 9:30 PM. I had to decide quickly on what my photo was going to be so I could get them in bed.

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.

My Uncle Budde and Aunt Sheryl recently purchased this new sculpture for their side yard. I enjoyed watching the setting sun reflect and shine through the unique piece of art.

Sadly, Betsy’s parents both died a few years apart from sudden illnesses. Betsy and her brothers picked out a nice headstone for their parents with a cardinal on it. The headstone is in Lakeview Cemetery in Ludington. I decided to honor Don and Shari Verduin today by making this image at their gravesite.

The American Flag at a local bank caught my eye as I drove past it this evening. I shot several test shots in order to capture the movement of the flag, but to keep the stars and flagpole sharp. In this shot, I loved how you could see the entire flag, yet it just showed movement at the right edge of the flag.

Patterns and photographs can be found anywhere. Even if it takes more looking. This design on Kasey’s bag has always intrigued me.

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.

Today was a long day. With a lot of projects going on at work, my brain was tired. It was hard to pull my head together to pick up my camera.

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.

I have envisioned this with a sunrise filling the sky and reflecting in the creek. I have many memories playing here. I woke the kids up early to get them ready for school. They stayed in the warmth of the van while I climbed down the steep embankment to Weldon Creek. While the sunrise didn’t show, I am pleased with this black-and-white, and we managed to make it back to the driveway before the bus came. That’s a win-win in my book.

Tonight was Joshua’s turn to sit with me. We donned our hunter’s orange clothing and headed across the railroad tracks to the field. We hunkered down in the corner, waiting for the big one. Hunting with a four-year-old, it might not be a surprise that no deer showed. We had lots of laughs though and he was excited to be part of the hunting experience. Once we arrived home, I played around with a green mason jar.

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.

The kids and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my mom and dad tomorrow. They will be at their dad’s for Thanksgiving Day. We cleaned and prepared food all day today in preparation for the feast. I didn’t even step outside I was working so hard. As I walked past Joshua’s puffer coat, I thought it could make for a cool photo.

The clouds over Lake Michigan were so pretty tonight that I decided to focus on just them. I love when clouds have the orange outline like this.

Kasey has been asking for a hamster for many months. I decided that for her birthday, it would be a great time to buy one for her. My sister was coming up from Ohio for Thanksgiving, and we found a breeder near her. Kasey was a lucky girl and received Sugar early.