Other Lake Michigan

We took our Heaven on Hamlin photography workshop students to Point Betsie Lighthouse north of Frankfort early this morning. This colorful heart-shaped rock was moved into place by a crashing Lake Michigan wave. I ran over and made this image before another wave came and swept the rocks away.

With all the clouds, the sunset reflected beautiful orange light onto Lake Michigan on a peaceful January evening

Storm in Manistee

The scenic Lakeshore Drive bridge, over the water intake area of the huge Ludington Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Plant, can provide surreal and vast night views. It can be as spectacular as a space scene from a "Star Trek" movie. On this August night, the visual impact of earthly lights and celestial lights over Lake Michigan stunned me as I rushed to find the best vantage point to capture this visual encounter.

Muskegon State Park

The early morning light and beach scene plays against the shape of the Little Point Sable lighthouse.

The Great Lakes freighter Algorail appeared about to strike the Ludington North Breakwall during an autumn Northwester, but its veteran captain used the powerful north wind and waves on her stern to his advantage. Moments after I recorded this scene, the ship’s bow reached the pierheads, the wheelsman wheeled the ship hard to port, and she advanced ahead while her stern transferred swiftly to the south. The big ship was guided into the harbor as though she were on a curved roller coaster track. It was a masterful piece of sailing.

365 Week 11

365 Week 11 Cropped Pano

After leaving a Valentine

Summer Rush

Summer Rush - cropped vertical

I was driving back from dropping my kids off for a weekend with their dad, when I noticed the cloud formations to the west. I am not as familiar with the Oceana County area, and I was struggling to find a public spot to shoot. Finally, I came to Claybanks Township Park and ran to compose my shot.

I did not have time to get my underwater camera housing water tight, so I made a quick decision to leave it in the truck and grab my normal Nikon D800. I ran down the beach to the water's edge and started shooting. I knew to get the image I really wanted I needed to get into Lake Michigan with my camera. I took a calculated risk and put my camera and tripod head just above the surface of Lake Michigan and waited for a breaking wave to crash just below my camera. With a 0.6 second exposure and my detached flash set to rear sync, I was able to make the image I had envisioned.

This beautiful tree is on the south shore of Lake Michigan at the Duck Lake Outlet. The strength and perseverance of trees like this along the shores of the Great Lakes always amaze me. The wind, water, snow, ice, and lightning has not stopped this tree from thriving.

Some photographs have amazing secrets behind them. This is one of them.

I was recently chatting with a young man in the gallery who was a foreign exchange student at a high school in southern Michigan. When he first saw Lake Michigan, he could not believe how large and how beautiful it was. He proclaimed, "Lake Michigan is as good as it gets!" I made this image in front of Point Betsie Lighthouse and the color is real. Go check it out for yourself if you are in doubt. You won't be disappointed. D800, F2.8 at 1/1600, ISO 100, 70-200mm lens at 200mm