Miscellaneous Images

NBetsy’s cat Buffy is simply the coolest cat alive! He acts much more like a dog than a cat. He loves attention and comes when he is called. Buffy is a lap cat and a sweet boy.

Tonight we had an Easter dinner at my dad and stepmom Debbie's house. Ethan was excited that he got to sit at the big boy table for dinner with some of his "friends." Right after I took this photo, Ethan flipped the table over, fell out of his chair and crawled off to his next adventure. F2.8 at 1/50, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

Brad and I say, "Clouds are your friends." After waiting two hours on Easter at the base of the Father Marquette monument in Buttersville, a bright spot in the fast-moving clouds lines up perfectly with the cross to bring together the symbolic Easter picture I had envisioned when I first saw dramatic cloud formations heading across Lake Michigan. F4.0 at 1/250, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 24 mm

I cannot imagine a more beautiful location across America for a summer concert than Ludington's Waterfront Park. On this July evening the park is filled with West Shore Bank Rhythm & Dunes concert goers as the Lake Michigan Carferry Badger steams past on one of its daily Lake Michigan crossings to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Rhythm & Dunes concerts are one of the highlight events of summer in Ludington.

Wearing a backpack full of camera equipment, my son Brad reminds me of a Storm Trooper from a Star Wars movie as he photographs a storm front approaching the Ludington shoreline. F8 at 1/400, ISO 400, 14-24mm lens at 14mm

Fudge, bicycles, and horses can be seen nearly everywhere in the Mackinac Island business district. What you won't see are automobiles. People flock to Mackinac Island to experience its slower pace and its yesteryear appearance and way of life.

I love bright, bold colors. These hand made chairs in front of The Red Door Gallery leapt out at me as I was driving down Ludington Avenue on my way home from work tonight. The dreary rain and overcast skies actually made this photo possible. On a bright sunny day, the colors would not pop like they do in this photograph. F16.0 at 0.6, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

You can count on it snowing in April in Michigan, no matter how nice the weather has been in previous weeks. I picked the dark siding of the old commercial fishing building at the Lake Michigan Carferry docks as a backdrop for the snow. Our business manager, Sarah Genson, says the fish reminds her of Dory in the movie Finding Nemo. F5.6 at 1/250, ISO 400, 300 mm lens at 300 mm

Spring came very early this year in West Michigan and it was unseasonably warm and beautiful for most of the month of March. I loved the humor in this photograph that I made of the carved bears on one of Mary Schierholt's rental homes along Loomis Street in Ludington. If you look closely, you can see the snowflakes starting to fly. F8.0 at 1/100, ISO 1000, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

A few years ago the Birtwistle family donated this sculpture of kids playing at Waterfront Park in downtown Ludington. Just recently, several of these sculptures were vandalized. I hope the vandals are caught soon! F8.0 at 1/160, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 27 mm

We look forward to celebrating the Easter Vigil every year. My dad has had a solo with the choir for as long as I can remember. With the churches closed due to COVID-19, my kids could not imagine an Easter without it. They came up with the idea to have our own at the farm. My son, David Benjamin, made the cross they decorated with Easter lilies, my dad sang his solo, and we celebrated in our own way. It will be an Easter to remember.

The love of driving is an inherited Reed trait that has spanned several generations. It appears that both Julia and Ethan have received those genes as well. F2.8 at 1/3200, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

My good friend, David Seaman of the Michigan Hospital Association, has told me I need to come to Lansing to photograph the holiday tree erected in front of the Michigan State Capitol. I first try shooting from a window in David's office. But the finished image is not moving me the way it should. So I start over, this time from on the street squarely in front of the tree and the capitol. Now I am seeing an image I think makes the elegant tree and elegant building enhance each other. Thanks, David!

My dad and I always shoot a lot of pictures of each other while out photographing. I got up on a hill and used my 600mm lens to get this shot of my dad with a field of tulips behind him. Holland, Michigan this time of year is a must-see. I promise it will bring a smile to your face! F4 at 1/1000, ISO 100, 600mm lens at 600mm

I never tire of trying to make fresh, creative images of the American flag. This is the huge flag in front of House of Flavors on Ludington Avenue in downtown Ludington.

A 600-millimeter lens and camera appear to be floating in a sea of tulips. Actually, it is such a gorgeous, warm April afternoon that my son Brad (whose head is barely visible) could not resist catching a catnap between rows of flowers after finishing a shot. F5.6 at 1/1000, ISO 200, 500mm lens at 500mm

Shooting at ground level is one of Brad's favorite techniques for getting close to his subjects. Using a big lens to magnify his subject and make it become the only thing sharply focused is another of his favorite techniques for photographing small objects like these tulips in Holland. F5.6 at 1/640, ISO 200, 500mm lens at 500mm

Earlier today I got to meet one of my greatest idols in the photography world, Mr. Steve McCurry. Steve came to speak at Calvin College for the Festival of Faith & Writing and we went down to meet him. After one of his talks, Steve noticed a tattoo of one of his famous photographs on the leg of our friend, Shelby Dusseau, and he photographed it. F2.8 at 1/100, ISO 1000, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

The Budweiser Clydesdales have been a favorite icon for the Reed family for decades because of the Ludington Beverage Company. A few years ago my uncle, Budde Reed, purchased a life-size statue of a Budweiser Clydesdale for the front lawn of Ludington Beverage. Today, I took Julia to see the statue and to make my photo of the day. F6.3 at 1/400, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 20 mm

After waiting without success for a pair of sandhill cranes to show up along the Pere Marquette River and resume their courting ritual, I find myself zeroing in on the sun rising in front of the hardwood forest east of the marsh. F5.6 at 1/160, ISO 100, 500 mm lens with 1.4 extender at 700 mm