Search

Snowy Owl

This is as close as I have ever come to making a photograph that reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting. I made this image in Riverton Township, south of Ludington, during a snowstorm in the 1980s. A sizable Amish community had settled in the area and had opened a school at the corner of Hawley and Schwass roads. I photographed the scene from a distance with a telephoto lens. All of the snowflakes I was shooting through kept the faces of the children unidentifiable and the facial expressions invisible. But there was no mistaking the body language that revealed the personalities and various decisions of the students about engaging, not engaging, or retreating from the schoolyard snowball fight. This photograph speaks to me like a Rockwell painting. I still smile whenever I look at it.

Snow Horses

My son, Brad Reed, is in his element as he photographs one of the most beautiful snowfalls in years in the Manistee National Forest near Baldwin, Michigan. Brad is dressed for success and his camera equipment is built to withstand the elements. This wet snow will be a good field test for his new Nikon D7000 camera.

Triangles and s-curves make for strong compositions in art and this photograph has both. Because of those elements, this photograph looks much more three dimensional than a lot of my other photographs. I also like how the reddish-brown oak leaves show up despite the sticky snow.

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.

In the last few years my dad and I have gotten pretty good at doing a snow dance in order to help entice Mother Earth to give us some snow to photograph. Earlier this morning when it was gray and raining my dad and I both did snow dances. I guess they finally worked!

Victim of an eroding Lake Michigan shoreline, a tree uprooted years earlier is transformed into a snow sculpture on a dune at Epworth Heights north of Ludington. Finding scenes like this along the Lake Michigan shoreline confirms for me why I am a winter person. Winter is a photographer's friend.

This remains one of the most priceless moments I have ever captured with a camera. On an unseasonably cold October day, I saw a flock of sheep marching single-file across a field. I sought permission from Bernal Burke to venture into his Carr Settlement fields. I arrived where the sheep were heading with just enough time to set up my camera. The lead sheep turned sideways, and the next sheep in line followed his lead, setting up a barricade to protect the flock. As they maneuvered, huge snowflakes began to fall. It was the first snow of the season, and the lead sheep did not appear happy. For many years after my camera froze that moment, a framed print of this image usually hung in a prominent spot in our art fair tent. The image caused a lot of laughter as art fair patrons attempted to mimic the lead sheep’s expression and even try to make sheep sounds. It made people happy and brought us some comic relief from our long weekend grind on the Michigan art fair circuit. I will always be grateful to Bernal Burke for being so kind, accommodating and trusting to allow me to roam freely on his land. Besides being a farmer, Bernal served for many years as the Mason County Treasurer. I always admired and respected him when, as a reporter, I covered county government. I admired him as a farmer just as much. I believe we shared mutual respect, which meant the world to me.

I think Andrew Wyeth would have loved to create a painting of this maple tree if he had seen it on this November day. I loved the monochromatic color palette and the hints of color provided by the relatively few maple leaves still helping the snow to decorate the tree. I love the way my camera painted this scene with light..

A local farm field is often a popular spot for Bald Eagles. The snowflakes on this particular day were thick and heavy. Several eagles were flying around, but this one sitting in the tree struck me. Even with all the snow, the white head and tail stood out beautifully.

Wednesday Big Sable in Snow

I think Andrew Wyeth would have loved to create a painting of this maple tree if he had seen it on this November day. I loved the monochromatic color palette and the hints of color provided by the relatively few maple leaves still helping the snow to decorate the tree. I love the way my camera painted this scene with light.

Dune grass, that a week earlier blended in with a sand dune, stood out against the snow that painted the dune along the Lake Michigan shoreline near the Ludington State Park Beach House.

 

It is exhilarating to watch the white canvas of snow being painted by the bright colors of a Lake Michigan sunset. A snow-covered, wind-blown sand dune along the west edge of M-116 was my canvas of choice on this January evening.

A mute swan cruises the Sauble River near its outlet to Lake Michigan on a winter afternoon. Waterfowl flock to the river in winter to find open water. Bird watchers and photographers also flock there.

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl Vertical

Perhaps erected in a vain attempt to keep sand from blowing toward a nearby summer cottage, fencing looked more like a snow sculpture on a January morning at Epworth Heights resort.