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This was the last photo that my Fuji S5 Pro camera took. On the very next shot, I slid down the ice-covered slide. I went faster than anticipated and landed on top of my camera and tripod. It was one of the dumber things I have ever done, especially while photographing! My new used Fuji S5 is coming in the mail tomorrow. F11.0 at 1/60, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

Earlier today I picked Julia and Ethan up after school and told them we were going on a shooting adventure. We rushed north all the way to Stocking Drive at Sleeping Bear Dunes. We had to run from the parking lot to the top of a tall dune near the main lookout area. With just minutes to spare, we made this image of the sun setting into Lake Michigan. I love our adventures together!

One barn window frames another as I peer into and through an old barn south of Leland in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I have tried to make this image several ways but this view feels the best. I love the rich tones and textures I see in my viewfinder.

Surfer Saeth Gronberg rides a Lake Michigan wave past the Frankfort, Michigan lighthouse on a sunny winter afternoon.

Rainbow Over the Dummy Bridge

On an August evening during a photo trek to Big Point Sable Lighthouse I faced a momentary dilemma. I was shooting an extremely dramatic sunset over Lake Michigan to the west when I looked back to the east to see if the sky was "painting" the lighthouse with its brilliant color. As I turned what caught my eye was not the lighthouse-bathed in pink but the moon rising over a gorgeously "painted" dune just north of the lighthouse. The light was splendid and momentary. I knew there was not time to shoot all three pictures. While I was vacillating, my wife was decisive, declaring: "Shoot the moon!" So, I did. Thank you, Debbie!

I love watching people's reactions to this photograph. I have found that people either really like this image or they don't. Personally, this is one of my favorite photographs I have ever taken. That is the beauty of art. It is in the eye of the beholder.

Frost coats almost everything along the Pere Marquette River this morning. I make a picture of a frost-covered bush with the river as background. Then, following the "twice-as-close rule" Brad and I teach, I start looking for closer pictures. Just a few footsteps closer to the river I find it. Queen Anne's Lace laced with frost looks like a Crown Jewel. F22.0 at 1/160, ISO 400, 105 mm lens at 105 mm

The Lake Michigan shoreline was glowing orange tonight and the dune grass looked like it was on fire. Using a telephoto lens, I could isolate a section of grass that was particularly beautiful.

This historic barn in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore south of Leland has been a photographic muse of mine for several years. When I photographed it after a heavy snowfall earlier this year I noticed the star ornament near the peak of the barn roof. I am thinking this grand old structure certainly looks like an autumn star today.

Standup paddle surfer Larry Bordine cruises past the ice-covered Frankfort, Michigan breakwater . Larry is among the hardy Michiganders that make surfing a four-season adventure on Lake Michigan.

Rainbows Over the Lincoln

Prince of the Forest

Welcoming Winter

For weeks I have wanted to make a photograph of seagulls sitting on the dock posts at the Loomis Street Boat Ramp, but every time I got close enough they flew away. Today I took a different approach. I did the "run and gun" and it worked. I manually set my exposure ahead of time and ran as fast as I could up to the docks. F9.0 at 1/1600, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

The forests of Michigan ebb and flow in response to the forces of nature and man. I am increasingly aware of the life cycle of trees and how dead trees can still be attractive, especially with just the right complement of living things around them. I found this dead tree in a tiny lake near Glen Arbor to be strangely beautiful.

Reflecting on Life

Shadow Waves

Betsie River near Crystal Mountain

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.