Summer

Most grand scenic photographs need a strong foreground, middle ground and background. Sometimes it is difficult to have a strong foreground if there are no objects in your photograph that are close to the camera. One trick is to angle your lens down at a 45 degree angle and distort the foreground to make it look larger than it really is. F4.0 at 1/200, ISO 100, 70-200 mm lens at 90 mm

I never get bored trying to photograph sunflowers. I look forward to that challenge every year. I was really drawn to the dynamic light hitting this sunflower tonight on Jebavy Drive.

I came across the Woodland Farm Market driving back from dropping the kids off to their dad one weekend. I was in heaven! They have the biggest, most flavorful blackberries for sale here. I bought many quarts for the blackberry jelly that I was making and have every year since!

One of my favorite things about my dad is that he likes to goof off and he enjoys making people laugh. This photograph proves my point! F9 at 1/800, ISO 400, 10-17mm lens at 11.5mm

While shooting our book on Ludington State Park in 2007, my dad and I learned that when the light is way too bright or too flat to make strong images then that is the time to try photographing reflections on the water. Tonight the light was flat and dull so I photographed the clouds reflecting in the river from the Sable River Bridge. F2.8 at 1/80, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

Barn Quilts are such a cool addition to the countryside. I am really glad that in the last several years, Mason County has gotten so many new barn quilts. This one is on the side of the Shagway Arts Barn north of Ludington.

I had Rose of Sharon bushes at my old house. I wished that I could have taken them with me. Much to my surprise, when I moved into our current home, a Rose of Sharon bloomed in our front yard!

One of the concepts we teach in our workshops is to put triangles or pyramids in the base of your compositions. That is what I tried to do in this photograph. When you place a strong pyramid shape in the bottom of your image, the viewer is drawn into the photograph. F6.3 at 1/60, ISO 640, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

A purplish leaf fell to the ground today. I hope it’s not a sign that fall will come early.

It is a spectacular summer afternoon to be at Epworth Heights. Brian and Leah Roche of Columbus, Ohio walk along the North Beach sidewalk en route to meet some friends on the beach. F8.0 at 1/320, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 16 mm

The Marble family had a big gathering today out at my Uncle Rod’s house near Hamlin Lake. I have always loved his rebuilt 1958 Chevy pickup truck, so today I decided to try and make a nice photograph of it with my big camera. You should see the engine and the maple pickup bed!

The Lake Michigan Carferry, SS Badger passes by the Ludington North Breakwater Light upon reaching its homeport. The historic carferry can transport more than 500 passengers and dozens of vehicles on each of its crossings between Michigan and Wisconsin. F4 at 1/2000, ISO 800, 500mm lens at 750mm

The carferry Badger looks like a toy boat as it heads to Wisconsin tonight. I made this photo from First Curve at Ludington State Park with a large telephoto lens. F5.0 at 1/160, ISO 800, 300 mm lens at 300 mm

This tire swing in our apple orchard was hours of fun for me! My sisters would see how high we could get it swinging. On windy days, we would look out the window and say the ghost was playing with it that day. My kids love taking turns on it now.

Dick and Patti Hale have seen thousands of sunsets from their Lake Michigan home at Little Sable point. "This is the best one I've ever seen, spectacular because of the variety of the color, depth of the color, variation of the cloud cover," Dick says. I too am overwhelmed by the intense color and amazing patterns as I shoot near the lighthouse. F4.0 at 1/13, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 12 mm

Sometimes as photographers, we like to challenge ourselves to find a photograph with only one specific lens. Today I chose my 85mm prime F1.4 lens. I put that on my camera body, grabbed my tripod, and an extra battery, and left all the other equipment in my truck and then I took a hike at our hunting property along the Pere Marquette River. I found these wildflowers and went to work.

Sometimes a photograph I knew at the time felt good, seemed like a home run, somehow, years later, still had not managed to find its way out of my vast storehouse of yet or never to be worked up digital files living only on my computer. I was pleased to discover and resurrect this image while searching through my old digital files for this book project. The photograph feels as good to me now as it did when I was making the shot on February 22, 2008, along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

I never get bored or tired of photographing the SS Badger coming in or out of the Ludington harbor. Lake Michigan was as calm as I have ever witnessed today and that makes for smooth sailing on the carferry as it crosses to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. F8 at 1/400, ISO 100, 70-200mm lens at 200mm

Just after my dad and I finished giving a photo talk to over 30 people at Little Sable Point Lighthouse tonight, the sun broke out below the thick cloud layer and lit up the sky and waters of Lake Michigan like the 4th of July fireworks. It was an impressive light show that lasted for several minutes. F22.0 at 1.0, ISO 100, 14 mm lens at 14 mm