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A few minutes before making this image, my dad and I were forced back into the truck by pouring rain while photographing the Croton Dam. We decided to head toward Grand Rapids, but out of nowhere, the rain changed to a slight drizzle and the sun started shining. The earth around us lit up with electric light. We quickly spotted this tree and pulled off the road to make this image. Many of the leaves had large dark spots on them, but they still looked perfect to me.

It is a glorious morning and I am blessed to be traveling M22 today looking for fall color pictures and anything else that catches my photographic eye. Just north of Onekama I turn off the highway and find myself with a spectacular birds eye view of beautiful Portage Lake.

Tuesdays With Todd and Brad Reed

I saw so many bumblebees on knapweed when I was a boy that I logically named it bumblebee weed. A field of bumblebee weeds was a sure place to capture bumblebees and listen to them buzz in glass jars with holes in the metal lids. Now I become buzzed taking their photographs.

With thousands of travelers a year on the trails at the Ludington State Park, it is easy to find your way through the woods and deep into the forest.

365 Week

This small section of woods by my late Aunt Mary and Bespop’s (grandpa) drive is always so captivating this time of year. The sun crosses its path in the best way.

The soft looking texture and repetitive pattern of a rolling field of asparagus appealed to me as I was photo hunting near the Mason Oceana County line on an October afternoon. It was that subtle kind of picture I like to call "wine shots" because they affect you slowly but they tend to grow on you with time.

It is no secret to my friends and family I loathe and despise spiders. This morning as I was photographing this grass in front of P.M. Steamers restaurant in Ludington, I noticed the grass looked like spider legs. Did I mention that I despise spiders?

Days without my kids can be lonely. This weekend was especially hard. The willow tree in the backyard is one of our favorite trees on our Tiny Acres Farm. The blue light of night matched my emotions.

At first glance, a dead tree is not a pleasant sight, certainly not a beautiful one. But when a person spends enough time in the forest and comes to appreciate the natural evolution of life and death, one can actually look for and see the beauty in natural things that have died. I felt that way as soon as I saw this scene. Flooding years earlier in this dune valley swale had killed this tree and many others nearby. New life was all around.

Something about this dead tree attracted me to it when I spotted this snow-covered bog along US131 north of Manton, Michigan, and decided it would be a good place to make some early morning images.

A Delicate Moment

For many of the months my dad and I were shooting at Ludington State Park for this book, my older brother Tad was busy fighting the war in Iraq. The park became a safe haven for my dad and me, a place to clear our heads and our hearts. The park allowed us to somehow feel closer to Tad. This tree on the north edge of the Ridge Trail became a special place for me and I named the spot "Tad's Tree."

A Hidden Treasure

An outdoor photographer is dwarfed by the large Northern Michigan bog he is exploring on a winter morning. The bog lies along US131 north of Manton, Michigan.

Up until I graduated from college, my Grandpa and Grandma Reed lived on the Pere Marquette River near Walhalla at the very end of Budzynski Road. I learned to drive on this country road. I have always thought the road was more beautiful than most, but today it looks prettier than I have ever seen.

One of Michigan's best assets are the pristine forests that cover the state. I love watching how the forests change as you move farther north in Michigan. These trees at Wilderness State Park look more rugged and "Northern" than the trees to the south in Ludington.

Wilderness State Park near Mackinaw City is one of Michigan's best-kept secrets. With Lake Michigan as its border, the Wilderness State Park is a glorious glimpse of what Michigan may have looked like 100 years ago. Wild, pristine, diverse, and glorious are just a few words that come to mind when trying to describe Wilderness State Park. I look forward to spending quality time exploring more of the park in the future.