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Looking like a corsage decorating a log, lichen abloom in February adds a burst of color to the winter landscape at Wilderness State Park.

Golden Sand

Today is one of the worst days ever. I am trying to make a portrait of our beloved lab Beamer, knowing our loyal, loving companion for the past 12 years is living the last day of his life. Cancer is cruel to animals as well as people. F8.0 at 1/640, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 120 mm

Lake Michigan went wild today. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly Lake Michigan can go from being flat and calm to rough and angry. The intense color in the sky, mixed with the wind and waves, set my spirits free tonight along Stearns Park Beach in Ludington.

My seven-year-old son, Ethan named this photograph for me. I made this image at Bass Lake Outlet on Lake Michigan just north of Pentwater, Michigan. The wind was howling and it was only 12 degrees, but the few seconds of magic light warmed me to the core. I stood in the same place for over an hour and in that time, I only witnessed magic light two different moments for a total of about 15 seconds. To help pass the time and to keep myself warm, I did burpees on the sand dunes.

I love how the color red on these tiny flowers rockets out and grabs your attention. I used my 105mm macro lens and tripod to isolate these flowers against the snow in the background. I love the mysterious world that macro photography helps our eyes to see.

January Blast

Golden Sand - panoramic

Eagle Flying over Legends Ranch

For more than a quarter century, I have watched a once impressive farm north of Custer fading away. The painstakingly trimmed house where a proud family once lived was among the first buildings ravaged by the elements, vandals, and scavengers. The house has collapsed since I recorded this scene. Despite the decay of the old farm, I still find it sadly beautiful and continue to watch and record its slow death.

The Michigan State Jazz Band came to the Ludington Area Center for the Arts for the third annual Jazz It Up fundraiser. The music was phenomenal and the band received a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd in the performance hall. F2.8 at 1/25, ISO 1000, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

I was recently chatting with a young man in the gallery who was a foreign exchange student at a high school in southern Michigan. When he first saw Lake Michigan, he could not believe how large and how beautiful it was. He proclaimed, "Lake Michigan is as good as it gets!" I made this image in front of Point Betsie Lighthouse and the color is real. Go check it out for yourself if you are in doubt. You won't be disappointed. D800, F2.8 at 1/1600, ISO 100, 70-200mm lens at 200mm

It looked like the world’s largest bulldozer had been at work in the Straits of Mackinac, pushing thousands of tons of rare “blue ice” into mountainous piles near Mackinac Bridge. Actually, forces of nature—wind, waves, and the expansion of ice—teamed up to break the blue ice, drive it ashore and stack the broken sheets. This February 23, 2012 morning was the first time Brad and I ever saw the blue-hued ice. We had seen photographs of the rarely occurring natural phenomenon but thought they must have been taken in the arctic, not Michigan. Seeing is believing!

Perhaps erected in a vain attempt to keep sand from blowing toward a nearby summer cottage, fencing looked more like a snow sculpture on a January morning at Epworth Heights resort.

A mystic morning greets me. Fog bathes the Buttersville Peninsula outside our Crosswinds home. The scene looks subtly beautiful and makes waking up without our sidekick Beamer momentarily more bearable. Life without your lab is simply not as good. F5.0 at 1/320, ISO 100, 105 mm lens at 105 mm

I had seen extremely blue ice on television and in other people's photographs, but I had never witnessed it myself. For Week 8 of "Tuesdays with Todd and Brad Reed," my dad and I drove four hours north to photograph the Mackinac Straits area. As we drove down a steep hill and got our first look at the straits, we knew we had hit the jackpot. In front of us were miles and miles of massive piles of neon blue ice.

Sunset at Stearns Beach on a Thursday

A lone tree in a farm field stands out in any season, but especially during the heart of winter. Fields with lone trees are common throughout the Point to Point area. Besides adding beauty, many of them have provided shade for up to a century or more of both farmers and farm animals.

Chuck Wagon pizza is one of the main icons of Ludington. I told owner Rick Chapman we couldn't do a 365 Project without including a photograph of Chuck Wagon. Zach Gipe, one of my previous students when I was an elementary school teacher, was eager to throw some dough for my photograph. F2.8 at 1/60, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 23 mm