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Seeing Upper Tahquamenon Falls took away what breath I had left on this below-zero January morning in Michigan’s fabulous Upper Peninsula. Winter had already partially frozen the more than 200-foot-wide falls.

Winter had transformed Munising Falls from a rushing torrent of water to a motionless ice sculpture. The quietness on this windless January morning put me at peace and added to my enjoyment of one of my favorite Michigan waterfalls

Looking out from the Rock River Canyon Ice Caves, better known as the Eben Ice Caves, I was thinking that the rock ceiling and ice looked like a winter sunflower with “petals” of ice emanating from the center of the “flower.” Any way you look at them, these caves at Eben Junction near Chatham in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are impressive.

You know you are in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when you have to look 100 feet up to see the top of a waterfall. I was at the bottom of Laughing Whitefish Falls. I liked the name almost as much as the tall falls located near Chatham, about a half-hour away from Munising

Autumn Carpet

Birch Forest Trail

Forest Vertigo

Porcupines Patterns

Screaming Yellow

Walkway to Fall

This photograph shows the only magic light that we spotted the entire day in the Mackinac area. A world-class shelf cloud had just passed over the bridge which was casting dark shadows and adding contrast to the scene in front of us, and the sun was still shining bright above our heads. The combination of the bright and dark made the stones and waves glow and turned the water a tropical blue-green color. The Mackinac Bridge looks even more majestic than usual while bathed in magic light. F14 at 1/60, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 24mm

We arrive back on terra firma at Mackinaw City just in time to photograph a cloud front passing over the Mackinac Bridge and through the Straits of Mackinac. There is nothing Brad and I enjoy more photographically than being on the bright side of a passing front. F13 at 1/100, ISO 100, 14-24mm lens at 24mm

All five of our kids spent time photographing and wading into Au Train Falls this afternoon. After they had all gotten their shots, I took our underwater housing and my tall rubber boots and I got into the waterfall as well. With my camera almost half underwater, I finally captured an image I had built in my head almost a year earlier.

Laughing Whitefish Falls is one of my favorite places. The walk to the fall itself is a stunning forest. The cascade of the falls isn’t straight down, which I like. And the pool at the bottom has great moss-covered rocks. It was a wonderful experience to share with all five kids.

Rachel and I were so excited to finally be able to take all of our kids to 12 Mile Beach to see the white birch maple forest. We all had fun exploring the colorful forest with our cameras. After that shoot, the kids were tired, so Julia and Kasey stayed back and watched the boys while Rachel and I went over the dune onto the Lake Superior shoreline. This is the same spot where I captured “Exhilarating” in 2014.

Before we headed back toward Mackinaw City, we had to take the kids to Miners Castle Rock. Unfortunately, it was very cold here today. I had to increase my ISO even though it was sunny out, to raise my shutter speed enough that the tree was mostly still in the center of the image. Then it was just waiting for white caps to be in the right places.

For years I have been seeing photos on Facebook of fall color at the Lake of the Clouds inside the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Earlier this year my dad and I decided that we would head to the Lake of the Clouds during peak color for our Tuesdays Project. I am so glad we did. It is one of the most beautiful views in all of America. I shot this photo in total darkness an hour before sunrise. I love that digital cameras see in the dark. F4.5 at 179 seconds, ISO 200, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

As the warm magic light hits the escarpment of the lookout at the Lake of the Clouds inside the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, I quickly position my camera and tripod at a steep angle to capture the fog rising above the Big Carp River far below. F8 at 1/30, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

If this is not God’s world I don’t know what is. I waited in the dark along with my son Brad for more than an hour for the sun to peek over the mountains at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. I felt like a very small person as the sun began to light the big, beautiful world around me at Lake of the Clouds in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

This alpine-like view looks more like Yosemite to me than anything I have seen in Michigan before today. I can envision my outdoor photography hero, the late Galen Rowell, hanging off this rocky cliff with his camera in hand at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park like he did so many times at Yosemite. I am sticking to the walkway to capture this morning image at Lake of the Clouds. F22 at 1/8, ISO 100, 80-200mm lens at 200mm