Todd and Brad Reed’s Michigan: Wednesdays in the Mitten

In the last few years Ludington has had several different tall ships visit our port. As the Peacemaker rounded the Ludington North Breakwater Light and headed for the dock in Ludington, I was certain she was the most beautiful tall ship to visit this busy port. I was so impressed she came through the channel with all of her sails up.

With a foreground this beautiful, why not make it the subject and let the foghorn building and lighthouse at Point Betsie Light Station serve as the background? One of the most important questions a photographer should ask is, "What exactly is exciting to me about this scene?" Answer that and then emphasize it. That was the mental process that has led me to this composition.

In order to help protect this beautiful piebald deer, my dad and I have sworn not to tell people where we found it. We had received a tip from a family friend, and after almost two hours of searching for this elusive animal, we were getting ready to give up. Suddenly, I spotted it about 75 yards away in the woods. It wasn't until I downloaded this image and saw it on my 30-inch monitor that I noticed the other two deer in the scene. Our perseverance and teamwork paid off.

I pulled into the beach parking lot in downtown Frankfort less than two minutes before making this image. I saw the clouds to the west over Lake Michigan from the top of the hill in Benzie at the intersection of US31 and M115 and I predicted the sun would pop out just before it disappeared for the night below the horizon. I knew if we were lucky and the sun actually did appear, the resulting light show would be incredible. Following your gut instincts is important in outdoor photography.

I don't know who was more determined, the fish trying to jump up the dam on the Betsie River, or me trying to capture a flying fish with my camera. After a 30 minute battle, I finally got my photo. Unfortunately for the fish, it never made it high enough to get over the dam.

Upon discovering that, even in snowshoes, I was unable to walk over the five-foot snow drifts on the utility road to Big Sable Point Lighthouse, I had to figure out another way to get to the lighthouse. After using some good risk assessment, I decided my best course of action was to walk on the ice a few hundred yards off shore. After almost a mile and a half of treacherous walking and crawling, I made it to the lighthouse. Exhausted and hot, I made this image in seven degree weather, made chillier by 20 mile-per-hour winds. It was so worth the journey. D7000, F22 at 1/60, ISO 100, 10-20mm lens at 10mm

The Great Lakes freighter Calumet sits in Manistee harbor, protected from high waves left over from a Lake Michigan storm. Meanwhile seagulls flock to the open water around the ship to forage for fish.

First Street Beach in Manistee is always a great place to photograph a beautiful Lake Michigan sunset. After a long, hard day of shooting, it warmed my soul to see the sun pop through the clouds just before sunset. D800, F8 at 1/60, ISO 100, 70-200mm lens at 130mm

One of the iron stanchions supporting the elevated catwalk leading to and from Manistee Lighthouse provides the perspective as I photograph the Great Lakes freighter Calumet. Coast Guard Station Manistee lies beyond the pier, its crew "Always Ready" to aid mariners in distress.

First Street Beach in Manistee is always a great place to photograph a beautiful Lake Michigan sunset. After a long, hard day of shooting, it warmed my soul to see the sun pop through the clouds just before sunset.

I was horribly disappointed today when my dad and I made it to the shoreline at Point Betsie Lighthouse just north of Frankfort, Michigan and found Lake Michigan flat as could be. It was beautiful, but I needed some rolling waves in order to make the image I had created in my head a few days earlier. As I was preparing to shoot Plan B, my dad pointed out that a large sportfishing boat was screaming by just offshore and was creating a large wake. I rushed to get into position and set my underwater camera to the correct settings; then it was just a matter of timing.

I have been known to moo out loud at cows to get their attention. Usually, it doesn't work, and they just look at me like I am an idiot; but today it enticed this little one to come closer to me and my camera. My dad has taught me a lot of tricks of the trade over the years.

A cool new tradition in Pentwater every summer night is to give the sun a standing ovation as it dips into the water. I am sure this happens in several Michigan beach towns. It would be fun to try coordinating it statewide on the same evening and make it an annual event.

What could be finer than sitting on the deck of the Weathervane Restaurant on the Charlevoix channel eating a fine meal with my wife Debbie and watching the boat traffic? I stop eating long enough to make this ringside-seat image of the outbound Beaver Island ferry Emerald Isle. The beautiful ship, the US31 drawbridge, and the Weathervane are Charlevoix icons.

Who knew that Lake Michigan and Point Betsie Lighthouse could look like a tropical island in the Caribbean? With my cold water survival suit on and almost 300 feet of safety line tying me to the steel jetties in front of the lighthouse, I floated into water that was about 20 feet deep to make this image.

I have long admired and photographed this neatly-kept farm at the top of a high hill along US31 north of Manistee. On this late November morning, after a fresh snowfall, Olsen Hill Farm looks especially inviting. I spend a few minutes finding today's best vantage point. Now it looks and feels right to me. Click.

A cool new tradition in Pentwater every summer night is to give the sun a standing ovation as it dips into the water. I am sure this happens in several Michigan beach towns. It would be fun to try coordinating it statewide on the same evening and make it an annual event. D800, F11 at 1/60, ISO 100, 24-70mm lens at 24mm

Clyde Butcher continues to teach people all over the world that swamps are beautiful. He photographs the Everglades in Florida and has done more to save the Everglades than any politician. His photographs move people emotionally and that emotion is what is spurring the action to save the Everglades. Today I am photographing a swamp near the Eastmanville Bayou along the Grand River.

My aunt and uncle, Sue and Randy Marble, just purchased a large canvas of this photograph of the White Birch Forest. This incredible forest is about 16 miles west of Grand Marais on Alger County Road H-58. The first week of October is often a good time to visit the White Birch Forest to see the surrounding maple trees in peak fall color. D800, F2.8 at 1/320, ISO 100, 300mm lens at 300mm