Other Farm and Country

Donkeys come to greet you on a spring day at a Mason County farm. The clouds in the sky show that rain may not be far away.

Maple trees planted when horse and buggy traveled a country lane now tower over anything or anyone passing their way. The stretch of Decker Road, between Ludington and Scottville, is one of the few country roadways in the area that remain more of a lane a road. Because of its natural look and the magnificent maples, it has long been one of my favorite spots to drive through and to photograph.

I thank God for this glorious view from the Lake Michigan bluff high above Arcadia. After years of looking, I finally found a vantage point that gave me an unobstructed view of this church steeple amidst a sea of hardwood tree canopies in full fall color.

Mufasa, our outdoor cat, enjoys playing in the snow. We played chase the snowballs for a while before I made this image of his long fur blowing in the wind.

Cameras do lie! This lawn ornament is a small, but working, windmill at the Greene Farm on Conrad Road. The super dramatic sky and cool blue light this morning really added the drama I needed to get the feeling I wanted for this image.

This is as close as I have ever come to making a photograph that reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting. I made this image in Riverton Township, south of Ludington, during a snowstorm in the 1980s. A sizable Amish community had settled in the area and had opened a school at the corner of Hawley and Schwass roads. I photographed the scene from a distance with a telephoto lens. All of the snowflakes I was shooting through kept the faces of the children unidentifiable and the facial expressions invisible. But there was no mistaking the body language that revealed the personalities and various decisions of the students about engaging, not engaging, or retreating from the schoolyard snowball fight. This photograph speaks to me like a Rockwell painting. I still smile whenever I look at it.

For years, my mom's family has called this the "deer shack." We would use the old wood stove inside the abandoned shack for a venison fry and all my aunts, uncles and cousins would have a hoedown. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll on the old house and the roof has started to cave in. F5.6 at 1/200, ISO 500, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

Roadside fruit and vegetable stands are among my favorite photographic muses. This stand along M22 in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is one of my favorites to see and - when everything appears extraordinary - to photograph.

The heart of small towns and villages dotted across West Michigan agricultural areas is often a sizable grain elevator/feed mill operation. I think the Tri-County Feed Service facility provides an impressive entrance to New Era when approaching from the north.

The canopy that these maple trees drape over the roadway is one of the many reasons Conrad Road, between Ludington and Scottville, is one of my favorite stretches to drive. Photo hunting along area rural roads has been a favorite endeavor for decades. I have discovered countless unforgettable scenes and many memorable friendly people in my travels.

The Ada Covered Bridge was built in 1867 and has stood the test of time. Next to the bridge is an impressive railroad bridge that is still in use. I was fortunate today to have a Mid Michigan Railroad train go rumbling by just as I got into position to make this image. I wanted good depth of field in this photograph so I set my aperture at F8. In order to have a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the speeding train and shaking earth, I needed to rob the ISO bank. I set my ISO to 800 and was able to get the look and feel I wanted in this photograph.

Many times I passed this old house on the road from Shelby to Silver Lake but one autumn afternoon the setting screamed out at me to stop. Sumac blared out from the yard like a police car's siren. I love road hunting with my camera. I have driven tens of thousands of miles, down highways and byways, looking for new pictures or fresh views of pictures previously taken. Some days I never find a good picture. On other days they just seem to keep appearing. This was one of those days.

My mental diary of places where I have made, or hope to someday make, a good photograph has long included an entry for the Victory Trinity Lutheran Church in Victory Township, Mason County. In all of the decades I have looked for a picture there during my travels, I have only made two photographs I knew before ever getting the camera and tripod out had all the elements needed for a good picture. This 1980s day was one of those rare times. Sadly, I was heading back toward Ludington on Victory Drive from photographing a horrible fatal car crash on US 31 north of Scottville. As a newspaper reporter and photographer for the Ludington Daily News, covering hard news came with the job, but it was the hardest, most painful part of the job. I was overwhelmed by what I had seen and photographed at that crash site. The last thing on my mind was taking more pictures on this depressing day. But as a visual person, I couldn’t help but see the tremendous clouds overhead blowing toward my favorite country church. As I approached the church, I calculated that I might be able to line the cloud up over the church if I could quickly get to a high spot near a small barn several hundred yards west of the church where the Ruba family had given me permission to go. Thirty seconds later, when I jumped out of my Jeep Cherokee and started running to the peak of a hill overlooking the church and surrounding countryside, I could hardly believe my eyes. I saw a “Jesus Cloud” headed right over the church. I had visions of the Ascension as I worked feverishly to set up the tripod, mount my camera, set the manual exposure and shoot. The incredible view I was privileged to be witnessing and documenting was so uplifting that my spirits were lifted as well. This was a day of extremes in the life of one photojournalist. There were other days with highs and lows but none that stick with me the way this one does.

As a photojournalist for the Ludington Daily News, I took hundreds of photographs of special events at White Pine Village. The photographs helped tell the story of important historic preservation activities by Mason County Historical Society. One evening, long after my career as a news photographer, I was passing by the closed village. Nature produced a special event, rivaling all factitious events I had enjoyed documenting over the years. It looked as if lightning was striking White Pine Chapel. In reality, reflected sunlight was shining through a break in the clouds. My wife and I were the great illusion's lone spectators.

My wife Debbie is busy studying for one of her nursing classes so I decide to take a Sunday drive northeast through the countryside. Forty-five minutes later, near Natahka in the southwest corner of Lake County, I am attracted to a birch tree and rustic wood structure that have beautifully grown old together. F14.0 at 1/80, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 80 mm

When I pass the long-abandoned farm home on Sugar Grove Road northeast of Scottville, I marvel at seeing the old Chrysler Imperial; it seems to belong in the yard of an abandoned farm home. Both car and brick home look like flamboyant works of art that have seen better days.

My stepmom's mother, Marjorie Brye Vyse, attended this old school house in her youth. The school sits vacant today on the corner of Hawley Road and Old US 31. I find it fascinating how Mother Earth is slowly reclaiming this building. F8.0 at 1/200, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

My stepmom's mother, Marjorie Brye Vyse, attended this old school house in her youth. The school sits vacant today on the corner of Hawley Road and Old US 31. I find it fascinating how Mother Earth is slowly reclaiming this building. F8.0 at 1/200, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

A fresh coat of snow was just what an old Sanders Meat Packing delivery truck needed to look its best. Long after serving the still thriving Custer business, the pickup stood at Patton's Junkyard as a reminder of the good old days.

The morning after the biggest snowfall of the winter, my son Brad and I were out early looking for pictures. The wind usually whisks most of the snow off the trees before 10:00AM. After 20 miles of looking without any satisfying shooting, we found our shot. An abandoned farm home between Custer and Fountain on Custer Road I had photographed in other seasons looked its best painted in snow.