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The jetties at Ludington State Park are always fun to photograph, especially when the waters of Lake Michigan are rough. Today the sun broke through the clouds for a few fleeting minutes and I had just enough time to get into position to make this photograph. F9.0 at 1/160, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

I cannot imagine a more beautiful location across America for a summer concert than Ludington's Waterfront Park. On this July evening the park is filled with West Shore Bank Rhythm & Dunes concert goers as the Lake Michigan Carferry Badger steams past on one of its daily Lake Michigan crossings to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Rhythm & Dunes concerts are one of the highlight events of summer in Ludington.

This view of Tawas Bay, Tawas Point, and Lake Huron greets me after climbing 70 feet up the circular stairway leading to the lantern room of Tawas Point Lighthouse. The fourth-order Fresnel lens continues to shine brightly at night, warning ships of the danger posed by Tawas Point.

Wearing a backpack full of camera equipment, my son Brad reminds me of a Storm Trooper from a Star Wars movie as he photographs a storm front approaching the Ludington shoreline. F8 at 1/400, ISO 400, 14-24mm lens at 14mm

Out of Nowhere

Todd Reed

Wednesday Carferry in Fog

Some of my favorite pictures are the ones I did not plan to take. After making some images along with my West Shore Community College students of Roger and Marcia Hansen's beautifully restored barn at Cherry Hill Farm, several of us are drawn to an open-sided pole barn where hay is stored. I like how the bales look like Nabisco Shredded Wheat. F5.0 at 1/40, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 17 mm

I am struck by the shapes and forms carved by the waters of Porter Creek as it winds its way from the Nordhouse Dunes Federal Wilderness into Lake Michigan. I know converting this image to black-and-white will help me emphasize the constantly evolving shapes, forms, and patterns of this wild place.

Bands of altocumulus clouds remind me of a giant striped beach umbrella as they form a canopy over the Ludington beach on a spring evening. F5.6 at 1/640, ISO 100, 14-24mm lens at 14mm

Lake Superior Storm Black and White

Swans at Epworth

When I was growing up, my mom's mother, Linda Scott, had a home on Thunder Lake in eastern Mason County. There was a bog across the road from her house that my brother and I called "Sponge Lake." Tonight while driving to Blue Lake to visit Betsy's uncle, Dave Verduin, I found some cattails in bloom with Sponge Lake in the background. F2.8 at 1/1000, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

Ludington is famous for its sunsets, having been rated by numerous magazines and newspapers as one of the best places in Michigan and the Midwest to view a sunset. Sunsets like this one from Crosswinds at the Ludington harbor entrance are all the ammunition this lifelong Ludington resident needs to support the argument that my hometown is a most magical place to watch the sun appear to sink out of sight into Lake Michigan.

I wish everyone could experience the rush my dad and I feel when we are photographing an approaching Lake Michigan storm front. The power, drama, and beauty that is created when the sun is shining and a storm is approaching from the west is what I dream about photographing all year long. F9 at 1/160, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

Lake Superior Storm

Pumpkins at Monton Farm

The view between swipes of the windshield wipers becomes beautifully distorted as I stop momentarily to appreciate the springtime view of a Buttersville hillside near the Pere Marquette Cross. F4.0 at 1/200, ISO 800, 12-24 mm lens at 22 mm

There are more monarch butterflies than people enjoying Dow Gardens in Midland today. Brad and I are delighted to be among only a handful of people appreciating one of Michigan's most beautiful gardens this morning.

The ripples in the water, combined with the reflections of the sky and clouds make this photograph of Hamlin Lake look like blue and silver grains of wood. I never tire of making compositions like this one. Someday I hope to do an entire book on ripples and reflections on water. F2.8 at 1/400, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 50mm