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My dad and I wait all year for the middle of October. It is our favorite time of year to make photographs in Michigan because the quality of the light is the best. We call it "magic light" when it is raining, but the sun is out. Looking over Lake Michigan, I could see a storm front making its way towards us, so I waited on the beach in Pentwater for over an hour for two minutes of "magic light".

At least once more in my lifetime I would like the privilege of photographing a moment as power-packed as this one I witnessed in September 1997. I was as charged as the air about me as an enormous storm cloud fired lightning bolts faster than a giant Gattling gun and swept across Lake Michigan toward my vantage point on the Ludington shoreline. I believe recording this magnificent moment was God's will. We named it "God's Light."

Batten down the hatches! Storm clouds tumbling mixer-style steamroll threateningly ashore along the Lake Michigan shoreline on a June afternoon. This scene and the "Hot Pink" scene are among the hundreds of spectacular big sky views I have witnessed from my home near the Lake Michigan shoreline south of Ludington. They reflect the similar amazing scenes that unfold frequently all along the shores of Lake Michigan.

My dad and I have found that the best way to photograph lightning is using the longest exposure possible for the given situation. This photograph is a 30-second exposure at F8 and an ISO of 100. It was shot on a sturdy tripod that could withstand the 30 miles-per-hour winds. This fierce thunderstorm headed north very quickly and it took out power in Manistee, Michigan.

Bizarre Sky

Its About to Pour

June Has Arrived - Panoramic

Ludington Lightning

Epic Manistee Blast

Loving October

Loving October - panoramic

My Home Town

Magic Light in Manistee

Rachel's Birthday Light

Rolling Over Pentwater

Out of Hand

Electric Beach

Epworth Volcano

Breaking Through

Nikon D810. F11.0 at 1/640, ISO 1600. 14.0mm lens at 14.0mm. June 11, 2020 at 5:48pm.