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On a few days during the 365 Project, it has been very difficult to pick which photo to use for the photo of the day. Facebook has been helpful because we can have our fans vote for their favorite. This butterfly I photographed at Big Sable Lighthouse after our photo talk was the winner. Thanks for all the great comments and your votes! F2.8 at 1/320, ISO 1000, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

Tonight, Julia, Ethan, Aiden, and I decided to play 9 holes of golf at Lakeside Links south of Ludington. As Aiden was about to tee off, I looked up and spotted these Canada geese flying in a large V-shaped formation. I grabbed my camera out of the back of the golf cart and went to work making this image.

On the second foggy morning in a row I am on my way to photograph a barn on Amber Road in this soft, diffused light. I am almost there when a bunch of dew-covered spider webs along the roadside catch my eye. On closer inspection, this spider web and its creator demand my attention. F9.0 at 1/160, ISO 640, 105 mm macro lens at 105 mm

My stepmom Debbie hates frogs and toads. Tonight while we were having a picnic at her and my dad's house, I found this toad and photographed it with my macro lens. I was tempted to take the toad in the house and scare her, but I knew she would probably get me back some day with a big, nasty spider. F10.0 at 1/250, ISO 320, 105 mm lens at 105 mm

Some of my favorite memories growing up were made in our apple orchard. The tire swing, baseball diamond, and the biggest dandelions were there. Let’s not forget the apples. We would eat them right off the tree, or make homemade apple sauce, pie, crisp, or butter. The apples that were too bruised I would pick up for my brother, Kevin, to put out for deer. This apple tree is in my yard, and we love it.

A doe stood under one of our flowering bushes this afternoon in our backyard when I came home to eat lunch. She just stood quietly eating and looked at me while I walked close to her to make this image.

Jen Satterfield had her three-year-old German Shepard, Bella Carlisle, fetching a water bottle in Lake Michigan tonight near the Loomis Street Boat Ramp. I couldn't resist walking over with my camera for a closer look. F2.8 at 1/500, ISO 800, 70-200 mm lens at 200 mm

With one of her youngsters safely tucked behind her, an adult otter clutched her other baby after a swimming and food hunting expedition on the Leland River at Fish Town. A mooring line ran between them. The scene reminded me of swimmers hugging between lanes after finishing a race. I am certain this was an emotional moment for the otters.

The flowers in my mom’s garden made a great brilliant backdrop to this water-droplet-filled leaf.

A mother otter looks back to make certain her other baby is coming after a swim at Fish Town in Leland, Michigan. The otter family lives on the far side of the Leland River, away from most of the businesses in Fish Town, affording privacy from the hundreds of people usually enjoying Fish Town. F2.8 at 1/800, ISO 800, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

At last, Bespop’s grapes have ripened! I have great memories of picking these with him or drinking the homemade grape juice we made from them on a cold winter day.

About the size and weight of a ping pong ball, a newborn piping plover scurries along the Lake Michigan shoreline on its spindly legs. Naturalists helped the rare bird get its life started by erecting a protective cage over the nest its parents made on a highly trafficked area of West Michigan beach. F4.5 at 1/1250, ISO 800, 500mm lens at 500mm

With or without all the "bling" it is wearing, an adult piping plover is simply a beautiful creature. The bands help researchers keep track of the endangered bird, enabling them to know exactly which bird this is no matter where it travels. This plover and its mate are among less than 60 mating pairs currently identified along the Great Lakes. F4.5 at 1/1250, ISO 800, 500mm lens at 500mm

I was in my van when I saw what I thought was a bee, flying around against the window. I grabbed my camera and put my macro lens on. I then waited until it flew onto a part of the window that would show off its beauty best, without showing what was outside. I learned later that it was a hover fly not a bee..

Another goldfinch was back in the same butterfly bush that I had photographed earlier in the year. This time instead of a green backdrop, I wanted my red house to be the backdrop. I knew the yellow bird would rocket out against the red siding.

I would like to be as wise about birds and as in sync with them as so many Native Americans have learned to be through generations of careful observation and the passing on of knowledge of their ways. This gull seems to me to be a free spirit as it passes right over my head at the Native American Pow Wow at the National Cherry Festival. I am sure some of the Indians who saw the bird found meaning in its appearance. F10 at 1/500, ISO 400, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

My son, Joshua, spotted this toad in a hole in a tree at the farm. I grabbed my gear and carefully set my camera settings. Then it was a waiting game for it to pop back out.

I have fished for bluegill on Hamlin Lake since before I could walk, but I have never tried to photograph one. Today my cousin Logan Sanzeri and I went on a photographic hunt for bluegill on Indian Pete Bayou. Within a few minutes, this beautiful fish swam right up to my underwater camera and posed for this photograph. F5 at 1/1250, ISO 400, 10-17mm lens at 10mm

These large mushrooms are always fun to spot in the summer. The kids found this one down our long lane at the farm.

I love to eat perch, especially at Scotty's restaurant in Ludington. Today was the first time I have tried to photograph a perch. It proved to be more difficult than photographing a bluegill, but the hunt was equally thrilling. F4.5 at 1/640, ISO 400, 10-17mm lens at 10mm