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Fire Light

Birch Maple Magic

Quite often (my wife would say, too often) on our frequent 2020 trail hikes, something caught my photo eye and I would have to pause to better see it and assess its photographic potential. On this May day at Ludington State Park my eye was drawn to some cattails, but more exactly to their reflections. Brad and I tell our workshop students to determine “what exactly” excites them about a scene or other subject. I focused on exactly that.

Earlier today, I was in my backyard helping build a deck off the back of my house. While working, I kept seeing this little bird flying around and hopping from tree to tree. When trying to figure out what to photograph for my photo of the day, I remembered the beautiful bird from earlier in the day. F5.6 at 1/50, ISO 1600, 600 mm lens at 600 mm

Dewdrops sparkle like diamonds, making stunning wildflowers even more glamorous this morning. What a way to start a September Michigan day! I have gone into swampland along the Pere Marquette River to see what I can find. I always know I will discover beauty in a swamp.

It strikes me that the lives of these two tulips appear intertwined like a pair of swans. They are part of the splendid display of tulips in one of Holland's city park gardens. F5.6 at 1/1000, ISO 200, 500mm lens at 500mm

Frankfort

Frankfort

Frankfort

I only had to walk 100 feet from my house to find this unexpected natural gem. It caught my eye while photographing songbirds in a nearby tree. I did not know then that I would like the image better than the bird photographs. They felt good; this image feels better. F2.8 at 1/80, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 200 mm

I am looking forward to the Ludington New Year's Eve Ball Drop and fireworks tonight, but I am already being blown away this morning by the ice balls forming along the Lake Michigan shoreline by waves and spray from a December northwester. Large rocks protecting the Lincoln River Outlet channel wall at Epworth Heights are becoming increasingly large ice balls. The splashing water is also freezing on my waterproof North Face clothing. As I move, the ice coating on my clothing breaks with a crunching sound. Goodness gracious!

If you like the feeling of this photograph with the soft background and shallow depth of field then I recommend using your largest telephoto lens and getting as close as possible to the subject while still being able to maintain a focus. Then set your aperture to the largest opening. In this photo I used a huge 600mm lens wide open at F4 and I was only about 18 feet away from the tulip that is in the sharpest focus. F4 at 1/1000, ISO 100, 600mm lens at 600mm

Full Gale

Tonight, I drove to my Grandpa and Grandma Reed's house to photograph some of the birds that frequent their beautiful yard. As I pulled into the driveway I spotted this male cardinal. Luckily for me, he stayed put for about 10 minutes, which allowed me to get in just the right spot to make this photograph. F4.0 at 1/200, ISO 1000, 600 mm lens at 600 mm

Nothing could have excited this Michigander more on a winter’s day photo excursion on M-22 than experiencing this eagle flying by so close that my 500-millimeter telephoto lens could seemingly reach out and touch it. The mature eagle was among several hunting for food on a January morning near Crystal Lake north of Frankfort. Brad and I were en route to photograph the Point Betsie Lighthouse when we spotted several eagles feeding just offshore by a large open-water seam in the ice. We saw one of the eagles fly to shore and roost in some tall pines on a nearby hillside. The lighthouse could wait; there might be an image here as good or better for the book we had started shooting, Todd and Brad Reed’s Michigan: Wednesdays in the Mitten. We would be proved correct. We quickly set up 25 yards on either side of the flight path and waited…and waited. I was rewarded with my all-time favorite eagle-in-flight image when one of the eagles chose to fly right by my hiding spot instead of Brad’s. The image was (and remains especially) meaningful to me because my Army Ranger son Tad served our country for several years as a 101st Airborne Screaming Eagle. This eagle was definitely screaming past. Once I got on target, I was able to squeeze off three shots as I swung the lens on my gimbal tripod head and tracked with the majestic bird. With fast action shots, a photographer can often pre-select the background; but often, time does not allow one to see at the fraction of a second of exposure exactly how the subject fits against the background. Back the next day on my computer at our gallery, this image screamed for attention and selection. The bird fit perfectly against the background, simplifying and making order out of what would have been chaotic one one-thousandth of a second earlier or later. Brad and I like to say, “Little things are big things.” On this shot, a fraction of a second made a big difference

Cherry blossoms stand out in the springtime near the DeZwaan Windmill at Windmill Island Gardens in Holland, Michigan. I used a large lens aperture to feature the blossoms, separate them out from the windmill and to give the image a soft, painterly feeling. F4 at 1/1000, ISO 100, 80-200mm lens at 80mm

Glorious Ludington

Gerlach Workshop in Munising

Tulip time! My Grandpa Benson, who lived with our family when my brother and I were young, planted a lot of tulips in our yard with help from my mom. Spotting these brilliant red tulips makes me think of how much my grandpa and my mom enjoyed watching those tulips come up every spring. F2.8 at 1/640, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 200 mm

The repetitive pattern in this photograph intrigues me. I like how the sunlight is shining through the petals at different angles, making the tulips look somewhat transparent. I also like the subtle s-curve going through the photograph starting with the first tulip in the lower right corner. F8 at 1/160, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens 34mm