Ludington State Park Queen of the North

Almost every day for two weeks in May I hiked the Island Trail at Ludington State Park, hoping to see newborn swan cygnets appear in this nest. I had envisioned making a photograph with several cygnets and one or both parents for this book. Instead of the picture I had pre-visualized, I was finally rewarded on May 17 with a simpler, more unique shot. A lone first-hatched cygnet crawled out of the nest and waddled precariously around the top edge until coming face to face with its mother. I tripped the shutter at the instant world-famous French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson liked to call "the decisive moment."

I stood 20 feet out in Lake Michigan on a stormy summer evening with waves crashing into me as I tried to steady my tripod for a long 30-second exposure. Like so many times before, I was awestruck by the glamorous beauty of Big Point Sable Lighthouse. The Sable Point Lighthouse Keepers Association has done a brilliant job of restoring the lighthouse and bringing back its incredible grandeur.

It's comical to watch geese trying to walk on land, especially when they are only a few days old. This particular group of goslings seemed to be quite fond of the game leapfrog. As they passed by my camera, they clumsily hopped over each other while trying to keep up with the rest of the family.

Standing on top of Desperation Point looking over Hamlin Lake, I was awestruck by the calm that surrounded me on this warm summer morning. The water was a mirror of tiny ripples, the wind was gently blowing, and the birds were just starting to sing. Just after making this photograph, I watched a bald eagle fly below me and dip into Hamlin Lake to catch a fish in its mighty talons. This is a morning I will never forget.

Ablaze in color, maple leaves stand out against a backdrop of pine trees along Hamlin Lake near the Hamlin Dam. The fall color hot spots at Ludington State Park remain the same year after year but the colors change based on the weather and the quality and direction of light at the moment of viewing.

Turning your camera into a paintbrush is as simple as "painting" across a subject with your camera during a long exposure. The results are often both impressionistic and surprising. During one of our photography workshops I demonstrated how to "paint" some overturned kayaks stacked together along Hamlin Lake. I liked the results more than I expected.

My dad and I are fortunate that our gallery customers give us hints that help us capture some of our best photographs at the Ludington State Park. Last fall, a traveling nurse from the Ludington hospital stopped in the gallery and told me about a flaming red and orange tree she had seen the day before on the Ridge Trail at the park. With her detailed directions, I was able to easily spot the tree and was lucky enough to walk away with a smile on my face.

After a two-mile hike in the hot August sun, I walked back to my truck with my head down, disappointed that I hadn't made any good pictures. I was pleasantly surprised to find this caterpillar 10 yards from my truck. I quickly put my macro lens on my camera and got down on my hands and knees to make this photograph.

My dad and I are lucky to be married to very understanding women. Countless times on family outings at the Ludington State Park my dad and I have had to run off and chase the light. On this June evening, I was on a walk with my wife and her parents. Our destination was Big Point Sable. Just after we started out I noticed the light getting good. Betsy noticed my growing agitation, and gave me the go ahead to set off with my camera. Like a dog chasing a tennis ball, I ran as fast as I could from the Beach House to Big Point Sable with my 20-pound camera bag and tripod on my back. The reward was so sweet. Thank you, Betsy (and Debbie), for your patience.

While searching for piping plovers that abandoned their protected nesting site in the sand dunes north of Big Sable Point, I observe this delicate Halloween pennant dragonfly land near a pond tucked between dunes. I stealth closer, then photograph it with a telephoto lens. Thus I avoid scaring the dragonfly away and keep the background out of focus to simplify the picture and make the small insect stand out.

I love macro photography because it allows me to journey into new worlds where the details of subjects create a completely new visual experience. Living near Lake Michigan, I had seen thousands of these sometimes pesky Asian lady beetles. I had no idea they wore such a determined look on their faces until I got down in their world with my macro lens.

Only a few minutes after a downpour interrupted one of our photography workshops and sent Brad, me, and our students scurrying back to vehicles, a rainbow and accompanying storm light appeared in the southern sky. The rainbow sent us all scrambling to make a picture. I remembered a nearby pond between dunes. Bingo! The magic light was reflected in the glassy surface of the pond. Each of us realized this was a spectacular moment in time.

In photography and in life, getting close to someone or something brings out feelings you have never felt before. That’s the kind of strong feelings I seek when I am fortunate enough to be on the Lake Michigan shoreline with my camera on an evening like this.

The scene before me reminded me of mountains I have seen and skied down with my sons in backcountry areas of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. These "mountains" are actually sand dunes in the southern part of Ludington State Park. On this day, I enjoyed the mountainous look that an unusually heavy snowfall had helped create.

In photography and in life, getting close to someone or something brings out feelings you have never felt before. That's the kind of strong feelings I seek when I am fortunate enough to be on the Lake Michigan shoreline with my camera on an evening like this.

Our friends Dave and Chrissy Hall, lifelong visitors and supporters of the Ludington State Park, graciously offered to take my dad and me in their airplane to photograph aerial views of the park and its surroundings. On a clear May evening in 2007, I made this photo from several thousand feet in the air. The photograph clearly shows the Lake Michigan shoreline, the Sable River, all of Hamlin Lake, Big Point Sable Lighthouse, the Nordhouse Dunes, part of the Manistee National Forest and the entire Ludington State Park.

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.

Since the 1930s, the Beach House at Ludington State Park has served many functions. My favorite memories of the Beach House are the massive family reunions my mom's family would have there when I was young. While the adults were busy catching up on the past year's events, we kids were busy exploring the mysterious castle on the beach.

Those who climb their way to the top of the Skyline Trail are rewarded with a birds-eye view of the southern portion of the park. If they time their hike to the schedule of the carferry S.S. Badger, and look through a good pair of binoculars or a large telephoto camera lens, they might also enjoy one of the best views they have ever seen of the big ship heading out of Ludington harbor.

Those who climb their way to the top of the Skyline Trail are rewarded with a birds-eye view of the southern portion of the park. If they time their hike to the schedule of the carferry S.S. Badger, and look through a good pair of binoculars or a large telephoto camera lens, they might also enjoy one of the best views they have ever seen of the big ship heading out of Ludington harbor.