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Too magical to be real, a white horse made an already beautiful Michigan fall color view truly magnificent. One never knows what wonder will appear when traveling the byways of West Michigan.

Weekend Workshop

I had the luck of the Irish tonight while chasing the northern lights over Hamlin Lake with our manager Rachel and her sister Sarah. We were all fortunate to make images of the northern lights before they disappeared. My best image of the night was my first image. This was a St. Patrick's Day I will never forget.

365 Week

My aunt and uncle, Sue and Randy Marble, just purchased a large canvas of this photograph of the White Birch Forest. This incredible forest is about 16 miles west of Grand Marais on Alger County Road H-58. The first week of October is often a good time to visit the White Birch Forest to see the surrounding maple trees in peak fall color. D800, F2.8 at 1/320, ISO 100, 300mm lens at 300mm

Hamlin Lake is one of the largest manmade lakes in Michigan. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, lumber barons cut down thousands of trees in the area and then built a dam on the Sable River to create what is known today as Hamlin Lake. Many of the old stumps still remain on the lake bottom and they actually move around the lake because of the snow and ice. These two massive stumps near the Lost Lake Island move a few feet every winter. F5 at 1/400, ISO 100, 14mm lens at 14mm

Hamlin Lake is one of the largest manmade lakes in Michigan. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, lumber barons cut down thousands of trees in the area and then built a dam on the Sable River to create what is known today as Hamlin Lake. Many of the old stumps still remain on the lake bottom and they actually move around the lake because of the snow and ice. These two massive stumps near the Lost Lake Island move a few feet every winter. F5 at 1/400, ISO 100, 14mm lens at 14mm

365 Week

I have studied this old oak tree in Pere Marquette Township for some time. A fresh overnight snowfall highlights the massive tree's beautiful shapes. F11.0 at 1/5, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 130 mm

When I was a kid, my brothers and I spent a lot of time climbing trees in our neighborhood near Lake Michigan. One of our neighbors had a huge old beech tree in his yard and he would let all the neighborhood kids climb it. While I was photographing this tree in Marshall, Michigan, I could hear all the laughter and voices of my brothers and friends in my head and it made me smile.

Bay Harbor in Petoskey is an enchanting place full of beautiful homes and wonderful people. This tree, near the main entrance on US31, grabbed my attention as I was driving by. I turned my truck around and made a 30 second exposure. I love how the final image turned out. D800, F16 at 30 seconds, ISO 100, 70-200mm lens at 78mm

Dwarfed by the forest, a cross-country skier glides silently along the Logging Trail on one of those winter days that winter lovers live for. I have skied the Logging Trail so many times I have memorized the views that will greet me over the next hill or around the next curve. Yet I never tire of my Logging Trail journeys. There is something comforting about knowing a place. It is a feeling like home.

Red pine trees are known for growing tall and straight in Michigan but one or more severe windstorms has obviously impacted this forest near Free Soil, Michigan. Many of the trees have been left bent to varying degrees. F10 at 1/500, ISO 800, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

Participants in one of our advanced photography weekend workshops were in photography heaven when Mother Nature blasted the woodlands with snow overnight. We didn’t have far to go to find good pictures. This was the view within a couple hundred yards of the workshop’s basecamp–Jim and Carole Smith’s Hamlin Lake lodge cottage on the border of the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness. While assisting Carole and other photographers in making photographs of their choice, I was attracted to the way the snow had “painted” this big tree trunk and the smaller trees surrounding it.

Maple trees planted when horse and buggy traveled a country lane now tower over anything or anyone passing their way. The stretch of Decker Road, between Ludington and Scottville, is one of the few country roadways in the area that remain more of a lane a road. Because of its natural look and the magnificent maples, it has long been one of my favorite spots to drive through and to photograph.

A diseased tree had split in half about four feet up from the ground and a bird made a beautiful little nest in the remaining top of the stump. I put my 14mm wide-angle lens extremely close to the nest. This photograph was taken close up yet does not look like a typical close-up. With a wide-angle lens, if you do not get very close to the subject, the subject will look tiny and the photograph will often lack emotional impact.

I thank God for this glorious view from the Lake Michigan bluff high above Arcadia. After years of looking, I finally found a vantage point that gave me an unobstructed view of this church steeple amidst a sea of hardwood tree canopies in full fall color.

I thank God for this glorious view from the Lake Michigan bluff high above Arcadia. After years of looking, I finally found a vantage point that gave me an unobstructed view of this church steeple amidst a sea of hardwood tree canopies in full fall color.

The first week of the 365 Project seems to be an overwhelming success. The response to the photos by email and on Facebook has been fantastic. To start the second week of my shooting, I headed south of Ludington to the fruit fields in Summit Township on Morton Road. This is one of my favorite areas of Mason County. F22.0 at 0.5, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm