Ludington State Park Queen of the North

Calm water, geese, fog, and a colorful sunrise are common ingredients in outdoor photography. When you combine all four of them in one photograph, you have a recipe for success.

Calm water, geese, fog, and a colorful sunrise are common ingredients in outdoor photography. When you combine all four of them in one photograph, you have a recipe for success.

Dwarfed by the forest, a cross-country skier glides silently along the Logging Trail on one of those winter days that winter lovers live for. I have skied the Logging Trail so many times I have memorized the views that will greet me over the next hill or around the next curve. Yet I never tire of my Logging Trail journeys. There is something comforting about knowing a place. It is a feeling like home.

The 112-foot-high Big Point Sable Lighthouse towers over the shoreline and forest in this November 4 view from the Ridge Trail. A giant white pine provides a counterpoint for the composition I had envisioned weeks earlier before the color peaked.

In the workshops my dad and I lead, we tell our students not to be afraid of turning their cameras vertically. Some of our favorite photographs we have ever made are vertical images. On this day I took a horizontal photograph and a vertical photograph about 10 seconds apart. The composition in the vertical photograph was the definite winner.

Couples of all ages love to take leisurely strolls along the winding shores of Lake Michigan. The sound of the undulating waves, the smell of the beach grass, and the feeling of sand between your toes is so inviting that you can't resist the temptations of our West Michigan shorelines.

Over thousands of years, wind driven sand has polished smooth millions of stones along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The flat-sided stones are called ventifacts. I made this photograph near the Big Point Sable Lighthouse while on a hike to the northern boundary of the Ludington State Park.

Generations of families have enjoyed decades of fun and quality time together while camping at one of the three amazing campgrounds in Ludington State Park. Most families have a favorite spot that they try to reserve in January for the coming year. Good food, laughter, and fun stories are often shared around the campfire and great memories are made for all.

The First Curve at the Ludington State Park is one of the most popular places in Ludington to watch the S.S. Badger carferry steam in and out of port. I used a 400-millimeter telephoto lens and a tripod to make this photograph from the water’s edge at the First Curve on an October evening in 2007.

The porcupines of Ludington State Park had eluded our cameras for months. On this particular day, after scouting for a spot to set up a portable blind and shoot some wood ducks (with my camera), I made up my mind to spend the rest of the day on the trails looking up in the trees as much as possible. Several hours and one sore neck later, I spotted this porcupine. The porcupine wisely stood perfectly still and blended its body into the tree trunk and branch as well as it could. The telephoto lens revealed to me that the beautiful creature was aware of my presence. Its only body movement during the time it took to make a portrait was the occasional opening or closing of its eyes.

The First Curve at the Ludington State Park is one of the most popular places in Ludington to watch the S.S. Badger carferry steam in and out of port. I used a 400-millimeter telephoto lens and a tripod to make this photograph from the water's edge at the First Curve on an October evening in 2007.

Over time man has designed and built many beautiful things-the Colosseum in Rome, the Statue of Liberty, and the 1965 Ford Mustang just to name a few. They are each a perfect blending of beautiful lines and powerful angles. However, none of them compare to one of God's most beautiful creations of all time, the bald eagle.

Often times while I am photographing an extraordinary light show, I ponder what our human ancestors must have felt when they witnessed similar sights thousands of years ago. On December 14, 2006, as I stood on a dune inside the Ludington State Park and photographed the Aurora Borealis and an incredible meteor shower, I was overcome by a rush of emotions. The light show was so intense that it evoked a sense of fear in me. I knew nothing horrible was actually happening, but the sky was so turbulent that it still made me feel a bit uneasy. I imagine that our ancestors might have felt true fear because they didn't have the knowledge of modern science to explain what they were seeing.

This scene reminds me of the one-on-one battle between man and fish Ernest Hemingway wrote about in The Old Man and the Sea. Serious fishermen are like serious photographers; they dream day and night of being there to experience those exhilarating, unforgettable moments they can't imagine living without. For some it goes beyond being a pastime; it is an important part of their being.

Hamlin Lake is one of Michigan’s largest man-made lakes and is certainly one of the most popular. The lake is named after Hannibal Hamlin, who was Vice President of United States under Abraham Lincoln. He lived before the advent of human flight, so sadly, he never got to see this view of his namesake.

The symmetry of this tiny Hamlin Lake island at Ludington State Park has caught my eye for several years. I tried many times to make a photograph that portrayed its symmetry in a special way. At last, one spring day Mother Nature provided the perfect atmosphere. The island was barely visible in the early morning mist. I composed a picture, set up the tripod and waited. Soon the island emerged out of the mist just enough to appear extraordinary. The view made my entire day extraordinarily great.

Watching from atop the Ridge Trail as this lone vessel sailed north on a September Lake Michigan cruise, I couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of times I had cruised the same waters aboard Coast Guard rescue boats. When not too busy focusing on a mission, I was always awe-struck by the natural beauty and remoteness of the dunes and forests these recreational voyagers were undoubtedly appreciating this day. It made me long for those Coast Guard boat rides, both the calm ones and the really rough ones. Big Point Sable is on average the windiest spot on Lake Michigan.

Determined to safeguard their offspring, a pair of proud-looking Canada geese share the watch while their tiny gosling peers out from beneath its mother's chest. I love exploring Ludington State Park in the springtime, looking for scenes like this one of the natural world coming alive with new life. I made this image from a respectful distance with a large telephoto lens, then moved on to seek other discoveries.

Watching from atop the Ridge Trail as this lone vessel sailed north on a September Lake Michigan cruise, I couldn't help but think of the hundreds of times I had cruised the same waters aboard Coast Guard rescue boats. When not too busy focusing on a mission, I was always awe-struck by the natural beauty and remoteness of the dunes and forests these recreational voyagers were undoubtedly appreciating this day. It made me long for those Coast Guard boat rides, both the calm ones and the really rough ones. Big Point Sable is on average the windiest spot on Lake Michigan.

My dad is fond of saying, "Clouds are your friends!" This photograph is all about the quality of the light that is bouncing off the clouds and onto the water.