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I spent a lot of time underneath Coast Guard helicopters during more than 30 years driving Coast Guard rescue boats and training others to command and crew them. On this 1987 day, Active Duty and Reserve Coast Guardsmen taking part in a two-week “boat school” were conducting “helo ops” on Lake Charlevoix aboard Station Charlevoix’s 44-foot motor lifeboat with an HH-3F Pelican helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City. The precision drills included hoisting a boat crewman to the helicopter in a rescue basket. Skill and teamwork was always paramount and on display. “Always Ready” “44345 Fire Rescue”

I love going down to the beach on calm summer mornings in Ludington. As I was getting out of my truck to go for a run, I heard the Badger blow its horn, letting boaters know that it was about to leave the dock. I delayed going for a run and grabbed my camera and tripod instead. I climbed the small dune just west of the playground and waited for the Badger to get between the pier heads to capture this image.

Sail Away

The sailboat Condor strikes a gorgeous pose even while high and dry on its cradle for the winter. The sleek ...... ........graces the waterfront of Pentwater, one of Lake Michigan's most picturesque harbors.

Sunsets like this one, painting the beach and cottages along the Lake Michigan shoreline at Epworth Heights, are so exhilarating I feel privileged to be there to witness them.

Once in a great while, a sign in the outdoor world appeals to me. This one on the hull of a weathered rental boat beached on Hamlin Lake was one of those rare exceptions.

From atop a high sand dune south of Big Sable Point Lighthouse, I could see the light projecting from the lamphouse intersecting with the light of the tail of the Comet NEOWISE. I decided to try to make a tight image that would emphasize that connection of light in the starry sky. Showing less of the light tower and none of the keepers’ dwelling kept the focus on the story I wanted to tell. Less is so often more..

A beautiful red barn sits among a field of blossoming fruit trees early this morning along Morton Road south of Ludington. The fruit fields and rolling hills of Mason and Oceana counties are breathtaking right now. Tourists flock to this area for the fall color tour, but I don't think it holds a candle to the spring blossoms. F6.3 at 1/125, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

I can remember climbing on this old carferry propeller down at the Loomis Street Boat Ramp with my brothers when we were young kids. This is the first good picture I have made of the giant bronze propeller. F10.0 at 1/250, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

I am sizing up a sunrise shot of the carferry Badger when my cell phone rings. My wife Debbie has scouted out a picture for me of horses at West Shore Equestrian Center on Sugar Grove Road on her way to Nursing School at West Shore Community College. She sounds very excited so I am off to see the horses. I am so glad I listened to my wife. F4.0 at 1/800, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 130 mm

Watching U.S. Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat 47284 performing a search and rescue mission off Ludington takes me back. I was a coxswain (boat captain) of this 47-foot self-righting vessel at Coast Guard Station Manistee for several of my 33 years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. F4.5 at 1/500, ISO 100, 300 mm lens at 300 mm

Thank God for the sunshine. I am blessed this day to have the opportunity to ski to the Reed family cabin on the Pere Marquette River. I am alone. The forest is unbelievably gorgeous. It is so still. I ski slowly to savor everything my eyes can see. Beautiful scenes greet me at every turn in the trail. This is Michigan winter at its best. F16.0 at 1/60, ISO 200, 12-24 mm lens at 24 mm

A good portion of the homes and cottages on Bass Lake between Ludington and Pentwater are seasonal. As I was capturing the beautiful sunrise this morning on the southwest corner of the lake, I imagined the people who own and rent these homes in the summer months can't stop thinking about Bass Lake all year long.

Photographing Michigan commercial fishing operations has long been one of my photographic muses. On this day I was struck with how the light was coming through a gill net wound on a reel at historic Fish Town in Leland.

I enjoy isolating a scene by using a telephoto lens. Often the best color and most intense light can be captured best by zooming in on one small area. Tonight, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, I used a 200mm lens on a cropped sensor camera so I essentially had a 300mm lens.

Waves rush ashore at Point Betsie Light Station on a late winter afternoon. Point Betsie is one of Michigan's most distinctive and beautiful lighthouses.

After 10 hours and 250 miles of driving, I return to the spot where I made a much stormier and much less colorful photograph of the Manistee Lighthouse earlier today. The sea and sky couldn't look more different tonight and yet both occasions provided excellent photographic opportunities. Completely different pictures result from shooting the same subject on multiple occasions, even on the same day. The Michigan outdoors can change its appearance faster than a chameleon. F7.1 at 1/100, ISO 800, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

Trees have grown up to block most of the view from the water of McGulpins Point Light, but a five-minute drive from the Shepler's ferry dock in Mackinaw City puts me face to face with the charming brick structure. F5 at 1/800, ISO 200, 14-24mm lens at 17mm

After following this same snowy owl the entire day, I was finally able to sneak close enough to the mystical creature to capture all the intricate details of its feathers and magnificent eyes. The beautiful side lighting made the eyes of this snowy owl look even more dramatic and powerful.

South Bayou Magic