Search

Nothing could have excited this Michigander more on a winter’s day photo excursion on M-22 than experiencing this eagle flying by so close that my 500-millimeter telephoto lens could seemingly reach out and touch it. The mature eagle was among several hunting for food on a January morning near Crystal Lake north of Frankfort. Brad and I were en route to photograph the Point Betsie Lighthouse when we spotted several eagles feeding just offshore by a large open-water seam in the ice. We saw one of the eagles fly to shore and roost in some tall pines on a nearby hillside. The lighthouse could wait; there might be an image here as good or better for the book we had started shooting, Todd and Brad Reed’s Michigan: Wednesdays in the Mitten. We would be proved correct. We quickly set up 25 yards on either side of the flight path and waited…and waited. I was rewarded with my all-time favorite eagle-in-flight image when one of the eagles chose to fly right by my hiding spot instead of Brad’s. The image was (and remains especially) meaningful to me because my Army Ranger son Tad served our country for several years as a 101st Airborne Screaming Eagle. This eagle was definitely screaming past. Once I got on target, I was able to squeeze off three shots as I swung the lens on my gimbal tripod head and tracked with the majestic bird. With fast action shots, a photographer can often pre-select the background; but often, time does not allow one to see at the fraction of a second of exposure exactly how the subject fits against the background. Back the next day on my computer at our gallery, this image screamed for attention and selection. The bird fit perfectly against the background, simplifying and making order out of what would have been chaotic one one-thousandth of a second earlier or later. Brad and I like to say, “Little things are big things.” On this shot, a fraction of a second made a big difference

Glorious Ludington

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

Tunnel of Trees Conrad Road in Winter

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.

During our hike back from the Eben ice caves, my favorite Robert Frost poem came to mind as I stopped in the woods to appreciate the equally stunning sight of the snow-covered woods. I was in a rush on my way to the caves and passed up making a shot in these woods. Early that evening on the way back all was still and perhaps even more magical looking. I felt like Robert Frost must have felt when he stopped in the woods on a snowy evening.

Ice Sea

In the Teeth of Winter

My thought that these Christmas trees somehow look like snow burgers is silly enough that I find myself chuckling as I photograph them. Regardless of what they may or may not look like, the snow-laden trees looked good enough to me that I made a U-turn on US31 near Free Soil, Michigan to appreciate them up close.

A Winter Legend

Aging Beautifully

Barn Shadows

A snowboarder cruises through the glades at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort near Thompsonville. Glade skiing and snowboarding has long been popular at ski resorts out West. Crystal Mountain is one of the Michigan ski areas that have developed more ski runs through the woods in recent years. I feel blessed to have been able to enjoy the exhilaration and beauty of skiing at Crystal for more than a half century. Skiing and snowboarding in Michigan rocks!

Lake Michigan

Polar Vortex

One can only imagine how lonely it must have felt for light keepers to spend the entire winter isolated at Mission Point Lighthouse during times gone by. On this February morning the grand old lighthouse at the tip of Old Mission Peninsula north of Northport looks lonely but simply beautiful with a fresh coat of snow.

Like so many Michiganders and Michiganders at heart, I love looking at the barns scattered across the countryside of our great state. In recent years more and more Michigan barns are being adorned with wooden barn quilts for owners and passersby to enjoy. This barn quilt brightens a February day on Old Mission Peninsula along East Bay north of Traverse City.

Red Light

Freeze Morning