Panoramic Images

After I waited over an hour for this immature bald eagle to fly, it finally took flight and headed the wrong direction. Luckily I was using my 600mm F4 Nikkor lens with a 1.4 teleconverter on my new Nikon D7000 camera body so I could still show a little detail of this young raptor as it looked for food along the shores of Lake Michigan. F6.3 at 1/8000, 6400 ISO, 600mm lens at 840mm

Wind contorts my face, waves roar and crash just short of the feet of my tripod, sun gleams and dances across the water, clouds paint the sky. I am in my glory. This is as good as it gets for a Lake Michigan photographer. These are the days I dream about and rarely experience. This mid-September day of 2001 on the Ludington waterfront was one of the best moments of my life. My camera recorded it so I and others can experience it again and again.

Calm water, geese, fog, and a colorful sunrise are common ingredients in outdoor photography. When you combine all four of them in one photograph, you have a recipe for success.

Northern Reflections - Panoramic

The 630-foot Calumet is being guided through the narrow waters of the Detroit River near Wyandotte, Michigan by two small tugs. The tug pulling from the bow is the Idaho and is just out of view in the photograph. The twin tug Wyoming is assisting the Calumet from the stern. F11 at 1/800, ISO 800, 70-200mm lens at 70mm

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.

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.

Calm Night In Pentwater - panoramic

Often when my dad and I travel together in his truck on photo adventures and he is driving, I am worn out by the later afternoon. It is a common occurrence for me to take a nap in the truck while he continues to look for photographs. Today at Stocking Drive at the Sleeping Bear Dunes, I woke up from a long nap to find my dad photographing some trillium he had found alongside the road. I dragged myself out of the truck and grabbed my camera and started looking for my own photographs. Soon I was full of adrenaline and wide-awake making this image of a lone trillium. Nikon D800. F2.8 at 1/5000, ISO 1600. 14-24mm lens at 14mm. Handheld without a flash. May 16, 2017 at 4:49pm

This is the view from the top of the De Zwaan Windmill, located in Windmill Island in Holland, Michigan. Mesmerized by the endless fields of tulips, I locked in on this particular area of one field. I patiently waited for the sunlight to reappear from behind a large cloud and then for the wind to die down enough to make the photograph I had envisioned. D800, F11 at 1/320, ISO 1600, 70-200mm lens at

Over thousands of years, wind driven sand has polished smooth millions of stones along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The flat-sided stones are called ventifacts. I made this photograph near the Big Point Sable Lighthouse while on a hike to the northern boundary of the Ludington State Park.

Did you know that the beautiful city of Port Huron, Michigan is the maritime capital of the Great Lakes? With seven miles of shoreline along the St. Clair River, hundreds of large transport ships pass by Port Huron every year. In this photograph the Algoma Transport is underway heading south as the Vega Desgagnes is docked at the Dow Chemical plant in Sarnia, Canada. F7.1 at 1/40, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 27mm

The First Curve at the Ludington State Park is one of the most popular places in Ludington to watch the S.S. Badger carferry steam in and out of port. I used a 400-millimeter telephoto lens and a tripod to make this photograph from the water’s edge at the First Curve on an October evening in 2007.

My hat's off to all of the Great Lakes sailors who have to work on Christmas Day and many other holidays. The shipping business on the Great Lakes rarely stops and they all help keep America's economy going day in and day out. Michigan is a better state because of these floating beauties and they make me proud to be a Michigander. F4 at 1/400, ISO 1600, 600mm lens at 600mm

I love going down to the beach on calm summer mornings in Ludington. As I was getting out of my truck to go for a run, I heard the Badger blow its horn, letting boaters know that it was about to leave the dock. I delayed going for a run and grabbed my camera and tripod instead. I climbed the small dune just west of the playground and waited for the Badger to get between the pier heads to capture this image.

Sail Away

After following this same snowy owl the entire day, I was finally able to sneak close enough to the mystical creature to capture all the intricate details of its feathers and magnificent eyes. The beautiful side lighting made the eyes of this snowy owl look even more dramatic and powerful.

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.

Exhilarating - panoramic

Wind contorts my face, waves roar and crash just short of the feet of my tripod, sun gleams and dances across the water, clouds paint the sky. I am in my glory. This is as good as it gets for a Lake Michigan photographer. These are the days I dream about and rarely experience. This mid-September day of 2001 on the Ludington waterfront was one of the best moments of my life. My camera recorded it so I and others can experience it again and again.