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Having multiple camera lenses is a blessing and a curse. After a long snowy hike back from Big Point Sable Lighthouse, I spotted six bald eagles in a row of tall white pines about a quarter mile ahead. Of course, I had my wide-angle lens on my camera, and I scrambled for my telephoto as each bird took flight and soared overhead. Once I had the proper equipment ready, a seventh bird, an immature bald eagle, came into view.

Stop the TRUCK! This is what I heard right before four of our workshop participants shot out the passenger side of my truck with their camera gear in tow. I quickly gave chase and we all ended up on a large dune ridge facing a brilliant rainbow to the southeast. The entire expanse of dune turned a vibrant gold.

Mink live all along the Sable River at the Ludington State Park. This adult mink was busy finding food for its young. I watched this family of five hunt crayfish and chase each other for over an hour before making this photograph.

During most sunsets along the Lake Michigan shoreline, the sun appears to tranquilly disappear below the horizon. However, occasionally at dusk, the sun, clouds, water, and sand mold and blend to create a powerful mixture of molten beauty.

My dad and I have found that the best way to photograph lightning is using the longest exposure possible for the given situation. This photograph is a 30-second exposure at F8 and an ISO of 100. It was shot on a sturdy tripod that could withstand the 30 miles-per-hour winds. This fierce thunderstorm headed north very quickly and it took out power in Manistee, Michigan.

O.K. It’s really a Baltimore Oriole. But since it was residing in Ludington State Park, and since my three sons and I were Ludington Orioles during high school, I have taken some editorial license. The colorful songbird had probably recently returned from the south when I came upon him in mid-May on the Island Trail.

I spotted this loon on Hamlin Lake during a June hike in the Ludington State Park. Photographing it was a personal highlight in a photographic journey that spanned more than a year. I dreamed of reencountering the loon “twice as close” or “twice as close again.” But in six more months of hiking and boating in the park, I never saw a loon again. I am grateful for the opportunity to see this one.

Deep within the forest in the northern part of Ludington State Park lies a pond that my son Brad and I have discovered to be a delightful place. We watched this male wood duck and several others for more than an hour on a late September morning. We waited patiently for them to come closer and then looked for those magic moments when the splendid ducks fit in perfectly with their marshy home.

Attention on deck! A family of Canada geese appears at full alert along the north bank of the Sable River on a summer afternoon. Perhaps they are watching for the fox that lives just around the bend, or perhaps they have already spotted the sly predator.

A three-day-old piping plover is dwarfed by dune grass near a pond in the dunes north of Big Point Sable Lighthouse. The tiny bird has no idea it is a rare endangered species. Michigan Department of Natural Resources piping plover steward Katrina Hernandez and I have spent a couple hours this morning finding the plover and rest of its family after they fled from the cage and fencing designed to keep people and predators away, yet not to restrict the birds from leaving.

 

Steaming westward toward Wisconsin, the carferry Badger departs Ludington Harbor on one of its daily Lake Michigan crossings. The big ship carries passengers and autos back and forth between Michigan and Wisconsin from spring to fall in almost any kind of weather.

Autumn along the Lake Michigan shoreline is a quieter time, a good time for spotting wildlife. On a November morning, this buck appeared along the high clay banks south of Ludington, in an area where no hunting is allowed.

Oh, to experience another winter morning as stunning as this. I love below-zero mornings; the sky is usually crystal-clear and the morning light brilliant. But I never imagined the beauty that would await me at the Sable River Outlet this February morning. Steam coming off the water at sunrise had turned the grass to shimmering white shafts on the dune south of the outlet.

I am drawn to the Pere Marquette Lake side of the sculpture "Reflections" where the side and back lighting provided by its floodlights play beautifully upon the metal sail of the sculpture. I love studying this simple yet amazing sculpture donated by Lee and Joan Schoenherr to the city's waterfront sculpture park. F10.0 at 30.0, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 19 mm

The Muskegon River was under a flood warning today because of all the melting snow. When my dad and I heard the news, we explored new roads and came upon this spot northeast of Muskegon on Duck Lake Road. Luckily, we didn't get our truck stuck, but we did forget a camera bag that a DNR officer recovered for us later that day. Thankfully, everything was still inside and not soaking wet. We got a good chuckle out of our crazy day.

Today my son Ethan and I headed to Muskegon to go to his favorite arcade restaurant. Along the way on US31 near Whitehall, I noticed how beautiful the clouds were looking. I told Ethan that we were going to make a little detour to the White Lake Lighthouse to shoot some photos. He loves going on adventures with his old man.

A doe pauses between licks while drinking water from the Sable River at Ludington State Park.

Today has been one of the most fun Tuesday adventures of the year so far. We started with a world-class sunrise, then went up in an airplane and photographed the Pere Marquette River. Next we went photo hunting by boat at the Ludington State Park for bald eagles and we followed that by photographing the Budweiser Clydesdales. To top the night off we end with a gorgeous sunset at Big Sable Point Lighthouse. How can you not love days like this in Michigan? F22 at 8 seconds, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

One of Santa's reindeer appears to be on the loose this morning along Hawley Road south of Ludington. I captured this moment as she flew through the snow during a short-lived blizzard that hit Mason County. F2.8 at 1/320, ISO 800, 300mm lens at 300mm