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What a majestic fall day! The fall looked stunning, framed in nature's glory. It doesn't get any more Pure Michigan than this!

Fusion

Gerlach Workshop in Munising

 

UP Crisp Point Taquamenon

 

Many times I passed this old house on the road from Shelby to Silver Lake but one autumn afternoon the setting screamed out at me to stop. Sumac blared out from the yard like a police car's siren. I love road hunting with my camera. I have driven tens of thousands of miles, down highways and byways, looking for new pictures or fresh views of pictures previously taken. Some days I never find a good picture. On other days they just seem to keep appearing. This was one of those days.

Gerlach Workshop in Munising

 

Looking like waves rushing ashore on an autumn evening, a ridge of sand dunes stops short

October Magic

 

The northwest wind sandblasts me and nearly blows me off the top of the high dune I have run up with the heart but not the body of a 20-year-old. The uphill sprint, the wind and the view leave me breathless. The thought occurs, I might pass out trying to make this Lake Michigan shoreline picture before the fleeting magic light disappears; thank God I don't.

The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore has never disappointed me. This October 2011 evening at Miners Beach was no exception. Fortunately, Lake Superior was flat and calm and the evening sun was shining on Elliot Falls. The view warmed my heart and delighted my photo eye.

 

Time marches on, and so does sand. I look at this beautiful dune and the grass and forest land adjacent to it and know it will look very different the next summer. I wonder how much wind and water will change this beautiful area between Lake Michigan and Piney Ridge in ten years, hundred years, a thousand years. Our lives are such a miniscule segment of time gone by and time to come.

I had been an avid fan of Outdoor Photographer for several decades when my favorite magazine selected one of my images of Munising Falls to grace the cover of their October 2016 issue. Several other photographs made by my son Brad and me illustrated our six-page story about discovering and photographing fall color in Michigan. We were proud to see Michigan’s autumn splendor showcased nationally.