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About the size and weight of a ping pong ball, a newborn piping plover scurries along the Lake Michigan shoreline on its spindly legs. Naturalists helped the rare bird get its life started by erecting a protective cage over the nest its parents made on a highly trafficked area of West Michigan beach. F4.5 at 1/1250, ISO 800, 500mm lens at 500mm

It is difficult shooting the sunset at home, due to our neighbor’s sprinkler irrigation system running north and south in the field to the west. I have had to work hard to compose shots where the sprinkler doesn’t take away from the feel of the image.

With or without all the "bling" it is wearing, an adult piping plover is simply a beautiful creature. The bands help researchers keep track of the endangered bird, enabling them to know exactly which bird this is no matter where it travels. This plover and its mate are among less than 60 mating pairs currently identified along the Great Lakes. F4.5 at 1/1250, ISO 800, 500mm lens at 500mm

I was in my van when I saw what I thought was a bee, flying around against the window. I grabbed my camera and put my macro lens on. I then waited until it flew onto a part of the window that would show off its beauty best, without showing what was outside. I learned later that it was a hover fly not a bee..

I grabbed a single sunflower that had been sitting in a mason jar on my kitchen table and took it outside on my deck so I could make this image. I knew I needed a clean, simple background for the image I had built in my head while eating dinner with Julia and Ethan. The photo turned out better than I had imagined. The details in the clouds disappeared nicely when I exposed for the flower.

Storm clouds can be mesmerizing as they rapidly fly across the sky. These particular clouds seemed to have a wave motion to them. I waited for them to position themselves above the trees in the way that I was envisioning.

Growing up around the farm, we were fortunate for the amount of wildlife we would see on a daily basis. Now my kids get to enjoy the wildlife. We have watched this fawn and her twin all summer.

Another goldfinch was back in the same butterfly bush that I had photographed earlier in the year. This time instead of a green backdrop, I wanted my red house to be the backdrop. I knew the yellow bird would rocket out against the red siding.

I would like to be as wise about birds and as in sync with them as so many Native Americans have learned to be through generations of careful observation and the passing on of knowledge of their ways. This gull seems to me to be a free spirit as it passes right over my head at the Native American Pow Wow at the National Cherry Festival. I am sure some of the Indians who saw the bird found meaning in its appearance. F10 at 1/500, ISO 400, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

Good friends of ours have a cottage on Hamlin Lake. They graciously invited us out for the evening. I was on the lookout for photos driving there when we passed this barn and field on North Stiles Road. I loved the green in amongst the yellow, leading right to the barn.

The kids and I went on a hike with Carole and Jim Smith today out near their cottage on Hamlin Lake. We hiked to one of Carole’s favorite trees in the Manistee National Forest. Seeing this tree was love at first sight for me. I knew I had found my photo of the day!

My son, Joshua, spotted this toad in a hole in a tree at the farm. I grabbed my gear and carefully set my camera settings. Then it was a waiting game for it to pop back out.

Julia has done so well on her first year of the high school golf team. She has gotten to play in several varsity matches and is getting better by the day. Tonight, when I went to pick her up from practice, I could see her on the 18th hole. I parked the truck and grabbed my gear and made this image of her as she hit a beautiful iron shot.

I have fished for bluegill on Hamlin Lake since before I could walk, but I have never tried to photograph one. Today my cousin Logan Sanzeri and I went on a photographic hunt for bluegill on Indian Pete Bayou. Within a few minutes, this beautiful fish swam right up to my underwater camera and posed for this photograph. F5 at 1/1250, ISO 400, 10-17mm lens at 10mm

These large mushrooms are always fun to spot in the summer. The kids found this one down our long lane at the farm.

I love to eat perch, especially at Scotty's restaurant in Ludington. Today was the first time I have tried to photograph a perch. It proved to be more difficult than photographing a bluegill, but the hunt was equally thrilling. F4.5 at 1/640, ISO 400, 10-17mm lens at 10mm

I took a lunchtime break at the lakeshore. The seagulls were very active!

Over the last 15 years the number of new houses and cottages built on the north shore of Hamlin Lake has exploded. Most of the homes border Hamlin Lake on one side and the Manistee National Forest on the other. F6.3 at 1/1250, ISO 400, 10-17mm lens at 17mm

Rachel’s daughter, Kasey, is on the middle school cross country team at Mason County Eastern in Custer. We were watching one of her home meets when I noticed these sweet peas in a mix of mustard grass. Trying to not crush any of the flowers or mustard grass, I got close to the prettiest one I could find. With my macro lens, I knew I could make the busy background look soft and less chaotic.

It was a calm night – but the clouds were moving across the sky. I took a longer exposure showing the movement against the silhouetted trees.