Search

I have been traveling since well before dawn today in search of magic Michigan moments. I have found several book-quality images but as I pull into the lakeshore parking lot at the end of Frankfort's main street, I am certain I am looking at another.

When photographing people outside, the color of their clothing and their placement in the scene are vitally important. My dad's bright blue coat is the only vibrant color in the entire scene so your eye is naturally drawn to it. I also used the rule of thirds and put my dad in the upper left third of the composition.

A Coast Guard helicopter flies right over me as I am photographing stormy seas on the Lake Michigan shoreline. I make the shot of these aerial lifesavers after having only seconds to change camera shutter speed and aperture in order to render the helicopter sharp but its rotor blades blurred to show their motion. F8 at 1/640, ISO 800, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

I honestly believe this fly-fishing-only section of the Pere Marquette River to be one of Michigan's crown jewels of natural beauty. I am mesmerized watching the water flowing over the stony river bottom as Orvis-endorsed fishing guide, Uber Raines, deftly fishes for brown trout. F 2.8 at 1/500, ISO 800, 14-24mm lens at 21mm

Charlevoix Magic

Badger in Fog

Pure Ludington - Panoramic

Ancient Caves

The Ludington State Park, in my hometown of Ludington, Michigan, is an excellent place to photograph the power and beauty of Lake Michigan. The clean, cold fresh water was kicking today.

Those who climb their way to the top of the Skyline Trail are rewarded with a birds-eye view of the southern portion of the park. If they time their hike to the schedule of the carferry S.S. Badger, and look through a good pair of binoculars or a large telephoto camera lens, they might also enjoy one of the best views they have ever seen of the big ship heading out of Ludington harbor.

Many of my summer evenings in Ludington are spent with family and friends. I had not shot any photographs for a few days, so on this evening, my wife, Betsy, and I politely excused ourselves from a family gathering and drove to the First Curve at the Ludington State Park. A delicate blade of dune grass first caught my eye. I lay down on my stomach and started shooting. Summer

Providing a contrasting backdrop for the heavy snowfall are the hulls of the carferries Spartan (foreground) and Arthur Atkinson, and the Spartan's snow-covered anchor chain.

The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw looks formidable as it docks in Ludington during the three-year-old ship's first visit to this port. The icebreaker stopped in Ludington before heading to Wisconsin to the shipyard. F7.1 at 1/400, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 120 mm

Before a big house was built in front of our picture windows, my wife and I enjoyed an unobstructed, grand scenic world-class view of the Lake Michigan shoreline from Ludington to Little Sable Point. Now I use the "twice-as-close rule" to narrow my focus and exclude the big house from the images I make in front of our home. F6.3 at 1/125, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 130 mm

The old Coast Guard station and lighthouse mark the harbor at Beaver Island as we pass by on the Emerald Isle ferry on our way back to the Michigan mainland at Charlevoix. A fresh breeze straightens the American Flag. It is a beautiful day for a cruise, a perfect ending to experiencing the island. F4.5 at 1/800, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 120 mm

After celebrating Christmas, my wife Debbie and I headed north to Crystal Mountain Resort. On the way back home I decided to stop in Manistee to make a "Christmas Light" photograph. F10 at 8 seconds, 100 ISO, 300mm lens at 300mm

Be daring as a photographer and don't always photograph the obvious subject. Standing above the Upper Tahquamenon Falls, it was a fun surprise when I noticed this ice formation at the bottom of the falls. I reached in my camera bag and switched my wide-angle lens to my telephoto lens in order to isolate the ice against the dark rock wall and the frozen river.

I have always liked how oak trees hang onto their leaves long after the maples have fallen. Today some oak leaves and trees look like winter etchings along the banks of the Rainbow Rapids stretch of the Pere Marquette River.