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365 Week

Rachel and I went for a hike together with our cameras today. The sunshine was a welcome treat as we explored the Ludington State Park.

Brad and I are winter persons. We love being outside in the snow, photographing, hiking, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing; you name it. But on a winter day as magical as this, we'd better be shooting pictures. We were, and I am glad we were. Following a deer trail through the pines south of the dam at Ludington State Park led me into a winter world of white.

Something about the way these wild turkeys blended with their environment compelled me to get out of my truck and make this image.

365 Week

There are so many beautiful orchards in Michigan to drive past; it would probably take the entire blossom season to see them all. This one within a few miles of Lake Michigan between Hart and Shelby, Michigan looks as picture-perfect on this May morning as any I have ever seen.

365 Week

The students in my Photo 1 class at West Shore Community College have set out this morning to find images that will render well with color film. I enjoy watching them use their own vision to find images I might never see. We talk about looking close; I follow my own advice and find this frosted maple leaf. F20.0 at 1/15, ISO 100, 105 mm lens at 105 mm

This sight greets me as I crest a hill on Scout Road while searching for blossoming fruit trees between Shelby and Hart. This scene definitely merits a photograph.

Tulips appear to extend to infinity at Windmill Island Gardens in Holland, Michigan. Visitors from across Michigan and around the world flock to Tulip City each spring to see countless blooms, other Dutch heritage attractions, and Tulip Festival events.

365 Week

My dad and I have found that the best way to photograph lightning is using the longest exposure possible for the given situation. This photograph is a 30-second exposure at F8 and an ISO of 100. It was shot on a sturdy tripod that could withstand the 30 miles-per-hour winds. This fierce thunderstorm headed north very quickly and it took out power in Manistee, Michigan.

Tulips and the De Zwaan Windmill are two of the spectacular ways Holland, Michigan celebrates its Dutch heritage. Today I search for just the right tulips with which to frame the centuries-old windmill. I set up the tripod low to the ground to make several foreground tulips stand out and surround the tall windmill.

These grand old maple trees look particularly attractive to me wearing their maple syrup pails in the morning light. I am sure my friend from high school days, Stanley Peterson, won't mind me stopping in the front yard of his beautiful farm on Benedict Road to make this image. F22.0 at 0.3, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 24 mm

365 Week

What we feel and what we at first see through our camera lens often bear little similarity. Identifying feelings causes me to realize I need to haul out my largest telephoto lens to match the painterly, impressionistic feeling I am getting from this tulip garden in downtown Holland. Now all I have to do is organize my composition and focus only on my chosen star tulip so the viewers of my finished image will easily make their way through the maze of flowers in front to the one on which I want them to focus their attention.

Spring Blossoms and Flowers

365 Week

I love watching the natural world come to life along the Pere Marquette River. It is Saturday and I have slowed down to savor the morning, quietly watching the river flow by our cabin. F6.3 at 1/125, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 165 mm

365 Week