Miscellaneous Images

Our gallery manager, Sarah Genson, has been telling my dad and me for years that we need to go to Frankenmuth, Michigan and get a famous chicken dinner from Zehnder's. Today, for Week 9 of "Tuesdays with Todd and Brad Reed: A Michigan Tribute" we saw a road sign informing us that we were only six miles away from Frankenmuth. Now we know why Zehnder's chicken dinners are world famous.

Kris Stewart and his family have owned the Toonerville Trolley and the Hiawatha riverboat for over 30 years. If you want to see wild Michigan black bears and have fun with the entire family, take a day to travel on the small Toonerville Trolley train and then float down the Tahquamemon River on the Hiawatha riverboat all the way to the Upper Tahquamemon Falls. Kris has a wealth of knowledge and is an expert navigator and ferryboat captain.

Do you see Bullwinkle? Or do you see a carferry propeller. From the truck, before I got out to shoot, I saw a propeller. When I got up close with a wide-angle lens, I saw Bullwinkle.

I am always moved when I see attractive classic church steeples. I find it especially moving today seeing the First Congregational Church in Frankfort flanked by maple trees in peak color.

The 365 Project is still forcing me to explore new roads and areas of my "backyard" that I have never seen. Today I took a closer look at the old elevator at the train yard in Ludington. I was greeted with magic light and a beautiful reflection. F6.3 at 1/125, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 20 mm

I was having a rough day missing my brother who was deployed in the Army. As I was driving around looking for photographs, I found this awesome chicken coop alongside the road. It brightened my day and made me smile. As soon as I got back in my truck, my brother called me from overseas. It was fantastic.

Before my grandma, Dorothy Reed, passed away, she paid for and dedicated this sculpture down at Stearns Park in the Veteran’s Mall in honor of my grandpa, Milan “Bud” Reed and all veterans and other patriotic Americans. I had been waiting for the right light to hit it with the right clouds behind it to make an image for this 366 Project. Today everything was perfect.

One of the many magnificent historic homes in Marshall looks spectacular to me in the light and shadow of a sunny April morning. In the 19th century Marshall thrived by being a busy crossroads town partway between Detroit and Chicago. Today, Marshall thrives by attracting people to experience the amazingly well preserved and restored grandeur of its past.

One barn window frames another as I peer into and through an old barn south of Leland in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I have tried to make this image several ways but this view feels the best. I love the rich tones and textures I see in my viewfinder.

Marshall, Michigan appears to me to be one of those small American towns where time stood still in the best way. While Greenfield Village near Detroit recreates the beauty and charm of the American small towns of the past, Marshall is a real town whose residents have made it a community mission to preserve and restore the past look and luster of its downtown as well as its neighborhoods.

As the sun quickly set tonight, I hustled into position to photograph the new carferry sculpture in front of Harbor View Marina. I had envisioned this photo several months ago while sitting at my computer desk at work. Now it was time to make it come to life. Luckily for me, the sunset was excellent. F22.0 at 1/13, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

Freedom Rings

The view of the clock tower of the Eaton County Courthouse stops my car faster than a stop sign. I am stunned by the beauty and condition of this structure built in the 1880s in Charlotte. Towering conifer trees in front of the courthouse appear to me to be an appropriate Michigan outdoors complement to the building.

All I could think about as I was taking this image in way-below-zero weather was how well it illustrated the impact on Ludington of the Polar Vortex. Just about everything was closed for a couple days as January roared to a close. This historic commercial fishing building at the Lake Michigan carferry docks looked like it was in Siberia.

Whether playing golf or watching from above, the views are spectacular at Arcadia Bluffs. The course, which begins several hundred feet above Lake Michigan, has been ranked among the 100 best golf courses in America by several leading golf publications. From my perspective, Arcadia Bluffs should be rated among the 100 most uniquely beautiful golf courses in the country. I am sure from my travels that many other Michigan golf courses are also among the nation's most beautiful.

Master of My Fate

My Uncle Budde found this very uniquely colored piece of driftwood in front of his Lake Michigan home this morning. He called and told us about it and explained that when the wood gets wet, it turns a beautiful pink and red color. I had to see it with my own eyes to believe it.

Most of us are savoring the sunshine this week. As a Michigander, I know the stretch of days where we can see the sun can't last much longer; so I savor the sun this morning as it rises dramatically through a cloud-streaked sky. F2.8 at 1/8000, ISO 100, 300 mm lens at 300 mm

Do you remember when movie theaters in most small towns in America had beautiful marquees similar to this one? Those times are back in Frankfort, Michigan, where the charming lakeshore community's movie theater has not only been kept alive but both its interior and exterior have been restored. It seems fitting that a black and white silent picture is being featured at the beautiful old theater.

My grandpa, Bill Marble, whom I have always called Papa, has had a love of bowling for most of his life. At over 80 years old, he may move slowly, and not breathe the best, but that man can still bowl a mean game.