Summer

 

I have witnessed many a storm while living in Michigan for more than 70 years. I watched from my porch overlooking Ludington harbor as this front swept ashore on August 2, 2015, bringing with it the most spectacular mammatus clouds I had ever seen.

It was a magic moment. While photographing a farm surrounded by mustard grass near Fountain, I heard a noise in the opposite direction. I spotted a collie heading my way. Wheeling about, I instantly framed the dog in the viewfinder, panned with him, focused, and shot as he passed by toward the picturesque old farm that may have been his home. It was an unexpected incredible photographic experience.

365 Week

 

I saw so many bumblebees on knapweed when I was a boy that I logically named it bumblebee weed. A field of bumblebee weeds was a sure place to capture bumblebees and listen to them buzz in glass jars with holes in the metal lids. Now I become buzzed taking their photographs.

The Place to Be - Panoramic

 

The soft looking texture and repetitive pattern of a rolling field of asparagus appealed to me as I was photo hunting near the Mason Oceana County line on an October afternoon. It was that subtle kind of picture I like to call "wine shots" because they affect you slowly but they tend to grow on you with time.

With our minds on the new photography book that my dad and I are working on that will cover West Michigan, I decided to head north to Frankfort and my dad headed south to Muskegon to photograph the solar eclipse. In this area of Michigan, we witnessed about 75 percent coverage. We also had clouds to battle, but as we often say, clouds are your friend.

Watching from our “Crow’s Nest” front porch vantage on the Ludington waterfront, I could see a major thunderstorm approaching from the southwest. If it continued on its northeast course, the lightning would soon be upon us and in line with the carferry Badger, moored dockside in its home port. All I had to do was set up the tripod and camera, adjust the settings, compose the picture, wait for the lightning to show up, and have the shutter tripped at just the right moment. Experience and lengthy exposures of at least 10 seconds increased my odds. I love playing the lightning photography game. Bingo!

People traveled for hundreds or even thousands of miles to experience the total lunar eclipse on August 21, 2017. I chose to travel 65 miles to the Muskegon South Breakwater Lighthouse so I could experience a partial version of the eclipse along Michigan's west shore. It remained relatively bright out but with a short exposure I was able to make the sliver of moon not eclipsed at the peak stand out.

Lambs grazing on a Carr Settlement farm were not quite sure of what to make of a photographer. They stayed positioned for a fast getaway while satisfying their curiosity about the stranger. Like wild animals, farm animals have instincts and mannerisms I have long enjoyed observing.

 

Frankfort Lighthouse

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.

Frankfort Lighthouse and Lower Laker

 

A Delicate Moment