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While Brad and I were photographing Michigan every Wednesday of 2014 for our book, Todd and Brad Reed’s Michigan: Wednesdays in the Mitten, I traveled to Mackinaw City on Tuesday, February 11, to scout out and be ready to shoot book images early the next morning. I wished this image I made that Tuesday evening in the Straits of Mackinac as the moon was rising would have appeared in front of my camera Wednesday so it could have been included in the Wednesdays book. It took seven years, but my Straits creation finally made its way into a book.

Mackinac Island

Cool Sunrise

Michigan's Pride

Mackinac Island Mackinac Bridge

Mackinac Bridge Rainbow

 

 

 

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!

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.

It took me over an hour of walking, crawling, praying, and sweating to make my way out on these jagged, slippery ice mounds in the Straits of Mackinac. I had seen the large chunk of ice that is on the left side of this composition from shore and I was determined to make it out to that point in order to line it up with the Mackinac Bridge in the background. It was totally worth the effort and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The Mackinac Bridge, which connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, is five miles long. I have photographed it many times, but had never gotten a nighttime shot I liked. When we first started shooting photographs for the Wednesdays book, I had a "must shoot" list in my head and making an image like this was near the top.

Rachel, Julia, Ethan, and I spent the day in Northern Michigan playing outdoors. I skied for free today at Schuss Mountain because my name is Brad! Every four years on Leap Day, they let Brads ski for free. After I skied, the four of us went tubing down the mountain. Then we drove to Mackinaw City to make these images.

Brad, Julia and Ethan and I enjoyed a day of adventures today! We ended at Mackinaw City to shoot the blue ice along the straits. What a magnificent sight!

In the Fall of 2011, I stood in the water in this same spot and photographed a double rainbow over the Mackinac Bridge during a rainstorm. This morning is a very different type of atmosphere. The foggy, still morning and muted pink and blue colors are picture perfect. F22 at 3 seconds, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 34mm

I barely got in position in time to make my all-time favorite image of the Mackinac Bridge on March 20, 2012. It was the 12th Tuesday of 2012, and Brad and I were out early to photograph the foggy sunrise for our year-long project to showcase the beauty of Michigan all day every Tuesday of the year for our book, Tuesdays with Todd & Brad Reed: A Michigan Tribute. Brad and the two other members of our Team Reed full-time staff at the time, Sarah Genson and Rachel Gaudette, shot out of my Suburban when we reached our preselected shooting spot in the Straits of Mackinac. They ran like jackrabbits to the shore’s edge and began shooting the fast-changing, gloriously atmospheric scene in front of them. As I was bringing up the rear, I spotted a cloud formation that looked a lot like a bear. The trouble was, my view of the cloud bear was partially obstructed by the south tower of the five-mile-long suspension bridge connecting Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. I know how fast cloud shapes change. I knew if I could get far enough, quickly enough, to the east I might have a shot at lining up the cloud bear right between the towers. I ran like I was being chased by a bear. I must have run 250 lung-busting yards before the bridge in the middle ground and cloud bear in the background lined up from my perspective. I slammed down the tripod and fired off a quick shot to capture what I saw while it looked almost perfect. Then I took a momentary physical and mental deep breath and began analyzing at warp speed how to improve the image. I quickly shifted my tripod less than two feet to the left to make the rocks in the foreground layer better balance with the middle and background layers. The cloud bear continued to cooperate. I have taught photographers for years “Clouds are your friends.” They become your very best friends when they are exactly the right shape in exactly the right place. I love clouds, and I love bears. Seeing this view, experiencing the chase and coming away with an even better image than I had envisioned is like winning my personal and private world series of Michigan outdoor photography. This image remains a winner for me. A lot of visitors to our gallery have appreciated it, even before spotting the cloud bear. Children, with their keen, fresh eyes excited about the world they see, tend to be quickest to spot the bear and other imaginary creatures. But once spotted by viewers or pointed out to them, smiles invariably follow. That makes me happy, particularly because I know how much of myself went into making the image.

Like sculptures, the twin spires of the Mackinac Bridge rise above the fog in the Straits of Mackinac. While built mainly for function to support one of the world's longest suspension bridges, the spires were designed with an artist's eye as well. F22 at 1.6 seconds, ISO 100, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

This photograph shows the only magic light that we spotted the entire day in the Mackinac area. A world-class shelf cloud had just passed over the bridge which was casting dark shadows and adding contrast to the scene in front of us, and the sun was still shining bright above our heads. The combination of the bright and dark made the stones and waves glow and turned the water a tropical blue-green color. The Mackinac Bridge looks even more majestic than usual while bathed in magic light. F14 at 1/60, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 24mm

We arrive back on terra firma at Mackinaw City just in time to photograph a cloud front passing over the Mackinac Bridge and through the Straits of Mackinac. There is nothing Brad and I enjoy more photographically than being on the bright side of a passing front. F13 at 1/100, ISO 100, 14-24mm lens at 24mm