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Stearns Beach Days

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Gerlach Workshop in Munising

Stearns Beach Days - Panoramic

My ex-wife Betsy’s husband Sean owns the Sierra Sands Family Lodge in Silver Lake. Julia, Ethan, and their stepbrother Aiden live at the hotel part of the year. Today we decided to watch the Super Bowl at their home inside the hotel. Before the game, I headed to Little Sable Point Lighthouse with my camera to shoot the sunset.

Some of my best photographs happen by accident. Before I took this photograph, I was struggling to compose a photograph of an abstract ice pattern below my feet. The shot was not working, so out of frustration I stood up and looked away. The tops of sailboat masts inside Snug Harbor Marina caught my eye. I casually snapped off one exposure and then went back to shooting the ice. Upon returning home to edit my work, I instantly knew that none of my ice photographs would go any farther than the editing table, but the sailboat masts were a sure winner.

A Northwester churns up Lake Michigan, turning the lakeshore dunes into a sea of blowing snow. February days like this one make most people long for spring. I never want to miss a good Northwester any time of year.

Like a lightning bolt, the Lake Michigan shoreline looks electric as the setting sun hits the wave-washed sand.

Fresh Lake Michigan air blowing in my face. Magic light hitting the dune grass in front of me. Roiling waves. Huge clouds. I feel alive and at home at this moment. F11.0 at 1/160, ISO 100, 14 mm lens at 14 mm

The light is blazing along the Lake Michigan shoreline tonight. I quickly line up some dune grass and the sun in a way that gives me the feeling that the sun is a big ball rolling down hill. F4.0 at 1/6400, ISO 800, 500 mm lens at 500 mm

I started this morning trying to shoot the sunrise over Bear Lake in Manistee County, but the clouds were blocking the sun. I decided to take roads I had never driven westward toward Lake Michigan. Eventually I came upon a glorious horse farm built on rolling hills less than a mile from the Lake Michigan shoreline. The farm is on a road lined with huge maple trees. Fortunately for me, the sun finally came out while I was setting up this shot.

This is one of my top three favorite photographs I have ever made. It seems to create a powerful emotional response when people view it for the first time. I think people relate the human struggle to the lone horse trudging through the deep snow in a blizzard. The legal name of the horse was Ultra Vanity Fair. A few years after making this image, she passed away. I am glad the she will live on forever in this piece of art.

Watching the sun rise over the Sleeping Bear Dunes is like watching a moving picture because the light and shadow change so quickly. With the camera on the tripod, I can savor the show and make an exposure whenever I am loving the moment I am witnessing. Fuji S2. F11 at 1/30, ISO 100. 12-24mm lens at 17mm. On a tripod without a flash. October 21, 2005 at 8:20am.

A stretch of the Pere Marquette River known as the Claybanks looks like a winter fairytale world this morning as the biggest, stickiest snowflakes I have ever seen cling to everything in sight. Professional fishing guide Chris "Uber" Raines appears oblivious to the elements as he fly fishes for steelhead.

The bow of the fish tug Joy is covered with snow on Valentine's Day at Leland, Michigan. The fish tug Janice Sue lies at her mooring on the opposite side of the channel.

Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat 47225 heads out the Grand Haven Channel for a "heavy weather" training exercise during Superstorm Sandy. At the helm is Senior Chief Kirk McKay, a Coast Guard Surfman highly trained in extremely heavy weather rescue boat operations. F4.5 at 1/2000, ISO 1600, 300mm lens at 300mm

Workshop at Stearns Park

Sunset Off Buddes Deck

Icy Morning in Muskegon