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I have driven past this scenic turnout vista along M37 south of Mesick for more than 40 years, admiring the view at 55 miles per hour. Today the light falling on Hodenpyl Pond is exquisite so I stop to make a picture. Timing is everything in outdoor photography. F22 at 1/1250, ISO 800, 80-200mm lens at 80mm

For a very short time, the fruit country south of Ludington blossoms into a fairyland. This evening view is from Hawley Road looking north. F5.0 at 1/200, ISO 200, 80-200 mm lens at 200 mm

Hustling from Scottville, Michigan to the Ludington State Park to photograph the sunset, I made a last minute decision to not shoot right along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and instead, turn down Piney Ridge Road and shoot from a location that my dad discovered during Week 6 of our Tuesdays Project. Once I got on top of the massive dune, I knew I had made the right decision. F11 at 1/13, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

Do you see them? Look closely. Do you see them now? Two fawns lying in the wet leaves. I made this image in my Uncle Rod’s backyard. He had spotted them while standing on his deck. He called me and I came out and stood in the rain to make this image.

This is another photo of TJ Christiansen's 16-foot giraffe that he cut and welded from the ground up. I got underneath Geoffrey and shot straight up in the air to make some abstract black and white art. F2.8 at 1/125, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

This fisherman may or may not be catching fish but he definitely has a front row seat for one of the biggest and best sunsets so far this spring. I would like to trade places for a while. F5.0 at 1/640, ISO 100, 500 mm lens at 500 mm

As I expected, as the sun sets on Lake Michigan, sunlight is finally able to break out below the clouds and "paint" the cloud layers with light. This is an example of why Brad and I like to teach our students: "Clouds are your friends." F6.3 at 1/60, ISO 800, 14-24mm lens at 24mm

While on a hike with my cousin Ryan, I made this image south of the first curve at the Ludington State Park. I stood at the bottom of this steep dune and shot upwards.

Don Allen of Ludington has been part of the local garden club for many years. His backyard is unbelievably gorgeous from early spring until late fall. He invited me over to photograph tonight and I was immediately drawn to this clump of primrose. F22.0 at 0.4, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 38 mm

It always amazes me how mesmerizing it can be to sit and watch a campfire burn. Every flame and fire is different. The same goes for Lake Michigan sunsets. Both a fire and a good sunset warm my soul. F11 at 1/4, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 50mm

Fruit Country

I photographed this old house on Sugar Grove Road this winter but felt compelled to make a new image upon spotting springtime flowers in the front yard. The flowers put a little life in the abandoned building and make me wonder about the people who planted them and lived there many years ago. F5.6 at 1/125, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 17 mm

A few years ago my wife Betsy got me hooked on Country Dairy Milk. The dairy is located in New Era, Michigan and they sell the best tasting milk I have ever had. When you visit the dairy you can go to Moo School and also eat in their family restaurant. My favorite part of every visit is the one dollar cup of chocolate milk with free refills. F7.1 at 1/500, ISO 800, 70-200mm lens at 200mm

Have you ever seen a pelican in Michigan? I had only ever seen one in the past. Today we had over a dozen of them hanging out in the Ludington harbor. These fishermen got an up-close view of them as they took flight off the south pier in Ludington.

A classic red tractor helps give that good old-fashioned, at home on the farm feeling to Country Dairy. The dependable old tractor and grazing cows are among many appealing sights at the New Era dairy, which welcomes visitors with open arms to see and learn about dairy farming. F4.5 at 1/800, ISO 400, 80-200mm lens at 135mm

One-year-old Caly Eisenlohr stands out beautifully in a sea of dandelions. I was making an image of an orchard and the dandelions in full bloom along Pere Marquette Highway when Caly's parents, Jerrod and Tara, decided this was the perfect setting for them to take pictures of Caly and her three-year-old brother Owen. F4 at 1/320, ISO 400, 500mm lens at 500mm

Upon our arrival at Country Dairy in New Era, Michigan, Brad and I are immediately attracted to one of the dairy farm's unofficial greeters, Holstein "19445." She is amongst the many attractions at Country Dairy, which range from seeing cows up close and personal, to viewing and learning about real dairy farm operations, including tasting some of the farm's products at their restaurant and farm store. F4.5 at 1/800, ISO 400, 80-200mm lens at 35mm

While hunting for morel mushrooms today with Julia and Ethan at Victory Park, we found this delicate little flower. I used my 85mm portrait lens to isolate the flower and soften the background.

For this shot, I put my camera on a tripod, used my 70-200 mm zoom lens, focused on the yellow bush in front of me, set my aperture to F22, my shutter speed to three seconds, and my ISO to 100. Once the camera started to expose, I carefully zoomed my lens from 70 mm to 200 mm creating beautiful art inside my camera. F22.0 at 3.0, ISO 100, 70-200 mm lens at 200 mm

Discovering the woodlands in the Claybanks area of Oceana County carpeted with trillium is for an outdoor photographer like winning the lottery. Brad, our business manager Sarah, and I go our own ways to capture our personal vision of the flower story we want to tell. For my part, I find three trillium flowers that I can place front and center in my composition. Focusing on them while letting the rest of a hillside full of flowers show up more softly in the middleground and background tells the rest of the story without stealing the show from the "stars" in the foreground. F9 at 1/100, ISO 100, 14-24mm lens at 24mm