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I have photographed many a fox, but never have I seen one more beautifully groomed than this fox kit that was just curious enough to sit down and check me out for a few seconds at the edge of some woods near the Lake Michigan shoreline. I was hidden behind some trees in a nearby woods. The young fox was trotting when I fired off a shot. Even though I was 30 yards away, the sound of the shutter did not go undetected. The curious fox froze, sat down and listened. It couldn’t have posed more perfectly. I fired this shot, and the kit decided this second unfamiliar sound was reason enough to head for hiding at a slow trot.

Using a shutter speed of only 1/200 of a second with a 600mm telephoto lens allowed me to partially freeze the body of the snowy owl, yet still show the movement of his wings. However, if this scene unfolded in front of me again, I would shoot it at 1/320 of a second in order to have the owl's face a bit sharper. Experience is the best teacher.

Legends Ranch

Home feels good tonight. I took time to explore around the yard after unpacking the camper. I have always thought Queen Anne’s lace does not get the attention it deserves. I decided to use her for my star.

My aunt and uncle and his family own this barn on Conrad Road. Ron Soberalski keeps his two large draft horses on their property. On this foggy morning, Ron’s horses were the perfect added ingredients that this scene needed.

Determined to safeguard their offspring, a pair of proud-looking Canada geese share the watch while their tiny gosling peers out from beneath its mother's chest. I love exploring Ludington State Park in the springtime, looking for scenes like this one of the natural world coming alive with new life. I made this image from a respectful distance with a large telephoto lens, then moved on to seek other discoveries.

This white robin appeared in my friend Curtis Haynes's yard two days after his mom passed away this winter. The beautiful rare bird has been hanging out every day with the other robins in the area. My dad and I enjoy making environmental portraits of animals.

Getting flying objects sharp and in focus while photographing with large telephoto lenses takes a lot of practice. For years, I would be presented with beautiful moments and would somehow mess up the exposure or focus, and the bigger the lenses, the more mistakes I would make. Today, I got "lucky" with these mallards and my practice is paying off.

Legends Ranch

Snowy owls like to visit Mason County between Scottville and Manistee. Driving along US-31, I always try to keep a lookout. Perched upon an old metal fence, this owl was just waiting to be photographed. The subtle color in the sky and weeds added just the right touch.

Almost every day for two weeks in May I hiked the Island Trail at Ludington State Park, hoping to see newborn swan cygnets appear in this nest. I had envisioned making a photograph with several cygnets and one or both parents for this book. Instead of the picture I had pre-visualized, I was finally rewarded on May 17 with a simpler, more unique shot. A lone first-hatched cygnet crawled out of the nest and waddled precariously around the top edge until coming face to face with its mother. I tripped the shutter at the instant world-famous French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson liked to call "the decisive moment."

A Canada goose keeps a watchful eye out as she escorts her goslings along a bank of the Sable River at Ludington State Park. I love seeing all the new life of spring in the Michigan outdoors.

As I was photographing a snowy owl, I heard the loud honking of a flock of Canada geese heading my way. The golden afternoon light combined with the dark blue January sky was the perfect backdrop for this large bird as it flew overhead.

Legends Ranch

Julia, Ethan, and I have only been living in our new house for six weeks and we already have names for several of the deer that live in our yard. This is “Socks” because she has four white feet.

It's comical to watch geese trying to walk on land, especially when they are only a few days old. This particular group of goslings seemed to be quite fond of the game leapfrog. As they passed by my camera, they clumsily hopped over each other while trying to keep up with the rest of the family.

For seven years, I have been trying to make this image of an albino squirrel that lives at my Papa Bill and Nana Bev's house near Hamlin Grocery north of Ludington. On Christmas Eve, it finally all came together. As I was making this image, I was trying to ignore my older brother Tad as he shot me with the dart gun that he got for Christmas. Some things never change!

While my aunt Sheryl was vacuuming her living room, she looked through the large picture window and noticed a fawn sleeping peacefully in her pachysandra bushes right next to the house. She immediately called my dad and me and we rushed over with our cameras. I put my lens right on the glass of the window and made this image. I love the heart shape of the bushes that surrounds the beautiful sleeping fawn.

A hummingbird takes aim at another wild iris bloom along a trail in the Ludington State Park. Fortunately for me, the bird was attracted to the same flowers I had already discovered.

A male mallard duck was as still as a decoy this afternoon at the entrance of the Middle Bayou on Hamlin Lake. I worked quickly to make this image before a nearby swan messed up the perfect reflection.