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January 22, 2010” “He is risen!” That familiar Christian declaration of faith in Jesus as savior came to mind on January 22, 2010 as I lined up the sun with the cross marking the long-recognized death site of missionary explorer Pere Jacques Marquette. According to the Jesuits, Father Marquette died on May 18, 1675, near this hilly spot between Pere Marquette Lake and Lake Michigan. I had been trying to make a sunset image like this for years, regularly scouting the potential from across Pere Marquette Lake during evening drives home. On this day the cross, sun, clouds and color combined to create a view better than I had ever imagined. One glance told me this was the day! But the sun was not quite lined up. I quickly calculated that if I could get to the end of the Ludington Yacht Club peninsula in time, everything might align. I drove the two blocks quickly, jumped out of my truck with my camera, 500-millimeter lens and tripod and ran until I ran out of land. Still the sun did not line up with the cross. Fortunately, a cold spell had built up the ice on Pere Marquette Lake. I did not hesitate to keep sprinting onto the ice. Twenty yards of running without falling on the slick ice later, everything lined up. I mounted the camera on the tripod, fine-tuned the tripod position and fired. Then I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God for good ice. I lived a few blocks away from this cross for more than a dozen years. During all those years of passing by the monument, almost daily, I had made only a few images of the cross that pleased me. None of them held a candle to this one. This image is especially dear to my heart not only because of its Christian symbolism but also because I have always loved and valued history, including the history of Father Marquette’s Ludington connection. Ludington was recognized as the death site of Father Marquette by generations of local Native Americans and settlers. In fact, when the area was first settled, Ludington was named Pere Marquette in honor of Father Marquette. The town was years later renamed Ludington in 1864 at the request of the most powerful lumberman in Pere Marquette at the time, James Ludington. The Pere Marquette River, Pere Marquette Lake, a street, a township and much more remain named Pere Marquette. Many different crosses have marked this spot over the centuries. This cross was erected in the 1950s as a community project. In 2019 and 2020, a new base for the cross was built through another community effort, and the cross has been put back in place to tower over Pere Marquette Lake. A lot of people believe that cross belongs there; I am one of them.

January 22, 2010” “He is risen!” That familiar Christian declaration of faith in Jesus as savior came to mind on January 22, 2010 as I lined up the sun with the cross marking the long-recognized death site of missionary explorer Pere Jacques Marquette. According to the Jesuits, Father Marquette died on May 18, 1675, near this hilly spot between Pere Marquette Lake and Lake Michigan. I had been trying to make a sunset image like this for years, regularly scouting the potential from across Pere Marquette Lake during evening drives home. On this day the cross, sun, clouds and color combined to create a view better than I had ever imagined. One glance told me this was the day! But the sun was not quite lined up. I quickly calculated that if I could get to the end of the Ludington Yacht Club peninsula in time, everything might align. I drove the two blocks quickly, jumped out of my truck with my camera, 500-millimeter lens and tripod and ran until I ran out of land. Still the sun did not line up with the cross. Fortunately, a cold spell had built up the ice on Pere Marquette Lake. I did not hesitate to keep sprinting onto the ice. Twenty yards of running without falling on the slick ice later, everything lined up. I mounted the camera on the tripod, fine-tuned the tripod position and fired. Then I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God for good ice. I lived a few blocks away from this cross for more than a dozen years. During all those years of passing by the monument, almost daily, I had made only a few images of the cross that pleased me. None of them held a candle to this one. This image is especially dear to my heart not only because of its Christian symbolism but also because I have always loved and valued history, including the history of Father Marquette’s Ludington connection. Ludington was recognized as the death site of Father Marquette by generations of local Native Americans and settlers. In fact, when the area was first settled, Ludington was named Pere Marquette in honor of Father Marquette. The town was years later renamed Ludington in 1864 at the request of the most powerful lumberman in Pere Marquette at the time, James Ludington. The Pere Marquette River, Pere Marquette Lake, a street, a township and much more remain named Pere Marquette. Many different crosses have marked this spot over the centuries. This cross was erected in the 1950s as a community project. In 2019 and 2020, a new base for the cross was built through another community effort, and the cross has been put back in place to tower over Pere Marquette Lake. A lot of people believe that cross belongs there; I am one of them.

On my way home from Ludington State Park I have just enough time to shoot the sunset after finishing a photo tips program Brad and I put on at Big Sable Point Lighthouse. What a summer for sunsets this continues to be. F4.0 at 1/500, ISO 800, 500 mm lens at 500 mm

Tuesdays With Todd and Brad Reed

Tuesdays With Todd and Brad Reed Full Frame

Tuesdays With Todd and Brad Reed

Tuesdays With Todd and Brad Reed Cropped

Cool barn! The repetitive patterns provided by this weathered old barn's board and batten siding, tin roof and screened window catch my eye for the first time even though I have passed by the barn before while driving on Gordon Road near Scottville. F4.0 at 1/800, ISO 800, 300 mm lens at 300 mm

I admire the craftsmanship and the beauty of Jeff LaPrad's wooden vessel as it sails past me onto Lake Michigan into another spectacular Ludington sunset. I have seen the handmade sailboat before and longed to be able to photograph it closer to my vantage point. Tonight I am on the end of the South Breakwater and the view is picture perfect. F3.2 at 1/800, ISO 400, 80-200 mm at 200 mm

Fishermen fly a large national ensign while trolling for salmon on Lake Michigan. I like their American spirit; I wish them luck catching fish this evening. The intense sunlight penetrates the flag and projects the color while the rest of the scene remains colorless. F5.0 at 1/8000, ISO 100, 300 mm lens at 300 mm

I didn't start out to shoot another ice shot today, but I find this one simply stunning. I shoot some shots with seagulls in the foreground, others with seagulls flying. Then I make this picture with no seagulls because I decide the birds are distracting the viewer from appreciating the beauty of the ice-coated rocks that caught my eye in the first place. F2.8 at 1/320, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 165 mm

Fast Tango passes close by Ludington while competing in the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. I like the look of this moment in the viewfinder as the North American 40 and another sailboat race toward Mackinac Island. F4.0 at 1/5000, ISO 400, 500 mm lens at 500 mm

This sign above Pere Marquette Sport Center in downtown Ludington leaps out with its message to fishermen. I have fond memories of going into this store as a boy to buy bait and other sporting goods with my grandfathers, father and brother. It was called Tuck's Sport Shop then and was owned by our neighbors, Tuck and Ivadel Daugherty. F11.0 at 1/8, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 100 mm

The sailboat Tranquility sails out of Ludington harbor toward Lake Michigan on one of the many tranquil evenings so far this summer. Even the clouds look tranquil tonight. F4.0 at 1/1000, ISO 400, 12-24 mm lens at 17 mm

Brad and I like to say, "Clouds are your friends." I certainly like the clouds and God beams this evening along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The wind-chill is below zero so I concentrate on the ever-changing beauty of the clouds, looking for the peak moment. This moment feels best; click. F2.8 at 1/400, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 80 mm

With his trusty retriever Kelly II serving as bow lookout, Dick Underwood navigates through the early morning fog to another fishing spot on Pere Marquette Lake. Dick is one of those diehard anglers I admire because they are not just fair weather fishermen. F5.6 at 1/5000, ISO 125, 80-200 mm lens at 200 mm

Brad and I like to say, "Clouds are your friends." I certainly like the clouds and God beams this evening along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The wind-chill is below zero so I concentrate on the ever-changing beauty of the clouds, looking for the peak moment. This moment feels best; click. F2.8 at 1/400, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 80 mm

While photographing morning light striking an American Flag and flagpole at Ludington Municipal Marina, a rainbow appears in the western sky over the marina. This is a bright spot in a day that will be marred by yet another Lake Michigan drowning at Ludington. F5.6 at 1/250, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 24 mm

Last night I shot this scene of birch trees lining a creek along Fisher Road. I liked it then; I like it even more today in better light. Stands of birch trees are a dying sight in Michigan. I am happy to come back to them and appreciate them while they are still standing. F16.0 at 1/15, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 200 mm

After photographing two other details of the carferry Spartan, I know I have found my picture of the day. Nature's work and man's work have combined to make what I find to be a very interesting sculpture. I don't think I will find the ice building up on the Spartan's bow and anchor chain to look more perfect again this winter. F16.0 at 0.4, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 120 mm