Take Time for Joy by Mac Anderson and Todd and Brad Reed

Boaters love to set course for Charlevoix, especially during the annual Venetian Festival. To capture the flavor of summer in Charlevoix I set out to photograph across Round Lake toward downtown during the blue light of dusk. Fortunately the night was so still that the sailboat moored in front of me was staying almost motionless, enabling me to use a long enough shutter speed to record the movement of two of the festival amusement rides.

Blood Moon

I barely got in position in time to make my all-time favorite image of the Mackinac Bridge on March 20, 2012. It was the 12th Tuesday of 2012, and Brad and I were out early to photograph the foggy sunrise for our year-long project to showcase the beauty of Michigan all day every Tuesday of the year for our book, Tuesdays with Todd & Brad Reed: A Michigan Tribute. Brad and the two other members of our Team Reed full-time staff at the time, Sarah Genson and Rachel Gaudette, shot out of my Suburban when we reached our preselected shooting spot in the Straits of Mackinac. They ran like jackrabbits to the shore’s edge and began shooting the fast-changing, gloriously atmospheric scene in front of them. As I was bringing up the rear, I spotted a cloud formation that looked a lot like a bear. The trouble was, my view of the cloud bear was partially obstructed by the south tower of the five-mile-long suspension bridge connecting Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. I know how fast cloud shapes change. I knew if I could get far enough, quickly enough, to the east I might have a shot at lining up the cloud bear right between the towers. I ran like I was being chased by a bear. I must have run 250 lung-busting yards before the bridge in the middle ground and cloud bear in the background lined up from my perspective. I slammed down the tripod and fired off a quick shot to capture what I saw while it looked almost perfect. Then I took a momentary physical and mental deep breath and began analyzing at warp speed how to improve the image. I quickly shifted my tripod less than two feet to the left to make the rocks in the foreground layer better balance with the middle and background layers. The cloud bear continued to cooperate. I have taught photographers for years “Clouds are your friends.” They become your very best friends when they are exactly the right shape in exactly the right place. I love clouds, and I love bears. Seeing this view, experiencing the chase and coming away with an even better image than I had envisioned is like winning my personal and private world series of Michigan outdoor photography. This image remains a winner for me. A lot of visitors to our gallery have appreciated it, even before spotting the cloud bear. Children, with their keen, fresh eyes excited about the world they see, tend to be quickest to spot the bear and other imaginary creatures. But once spotted by viewers or pointed out to them, smiles invariably follow. That makes me happy, particularly because I know how much of myself went into making the image.

This little masked bandit stole a granola bar out of the open camera bag I left unattended on the ground about 10 feet from me. When I heard a crunching noise, I turned around to find him with his mouth filled with my granola bar. He quickly made his way up into a nearby tree to escape the hustle and bustle of the small campground in downtown Bear Lake, Michigan. As I switched lenses and got into position, the setting sun broke through the thick cloud layer and lit the thief's guilty face.

Wearing my life jacket and ice grippers on my boots this morning, I slowly walked and crawled my way out to the Ludington North Breakwater Light to photograph. My local knowledge and experience had taught me that if I got close enough to the lighthouse, I would probably see a reflection of it on the ice. As expected, the reflection was there. Now all I had to do was wait for the big splash. As you can imagine, I got very wet and cold.

Kickin

One of Santa's reindeer appears to be on the loose this morning along Hawley Road south of Ludington. I captured this moment as she flew through the snow during a short-lived blizzard that hit Mason County. F2.8 at 1/320, ISO 800, 300mm lens at 300mm

It takes a team effort to make some of our strongest images. Our assistant manager, Rachel Gaudette, was the first one on our team to spot this vantage point to photograph Laughing Whitefish Falls. The issue was two large logs stuck at the edge of the steep falls. My dad went into the woods and found a long stick that had a fork on the end of it. I then walked to the slippery edge of the falls and hooked both of the logs with that stick and slid them to the side and out of the photograph. My kneecaps were shaking in my tall rubber boots, but it was totally worth it for this image.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a photographer's paradise. I could spend a lifetime exploring and photographing the park without getting bored. Every few steps I can find something that catches my eye. Miners Beach Falls is a popular destination for the thousands of visitors to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Two minutes before I made this image of Sutton's Bay, the shoreline was dark and in the shadows. The magic light of October instantly transformed this scene into a powerful and graphic photograph. I set my ISO to 3200 so that I could "borrow" that light and put it into both the depth of field with the aperture and into the shutter speed so I could freeze the ripples in the water. By freezing the motion in the water, the reflections of the building, boats, and trees became more distinct.

I wish you could see the photograph I took of this scene five seconds earlier, before the sun broke through the clouds; that image is very flat, boring, and ordinary. However, when the magic light appeared, the view of this dune at Ludington State Park with Hamlin Lake in the background became extraordinary.

Hammer Down

I hiked the Island Trail at Ludington State Park religiously the spring of 2007, obsessed with finding wild flowers in bloom. After many days of trekking, this wild Iris greeted me on a dewy morning the first week of June in one of the wetland areas of the trail near Hamlin Lake.

Michigan's official bird appears out of place after one of the heaviest snowfalls of the winter. I am thankful for the robin's decision to head north early and to pick such a beautiful perch this morning. My West Shore Community College photography students and I photograph the cool bird for several minutes while it stays frozen in place. F13.0 at 1/160, ISO 200, 80-200 mm lens at 165 mm

I was excited to discover the colorful rocks on the bottom of Lake Superior at Twelve Mile Beach would reflect on the underside of the surface of the water. Once I made this discovery using my underwater camera housing, I quickly tried to build a composition in my mind that would be powerful and unique. After having the vision, it was just a matter of changing my location and waiting for a big enough wave.

Tulips and the De Zwaan Windmill are two of the spectacular ways Holland, Michigan celebrates its Dutch heritage. Today I search for just the right tulips with which to frame the centuries-old windmill. I set up the tripod low to the ground to make several foreground tulips stand out and surround the tall windmill.

Pachysandras Surprise

My wife and daughter love to draw and color together. The weather in Ludington this week has been unseasonably warm and wonderful so they decided to take their artwork outside. Betsy drew the butterfly and then Julia lay down to color it in with her sidewalk chalk. I was drawn to the beautiful light hitting Julia's face. F4.5 at 1/250, ISO 320, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

A family looks in a Rochester store window display to appreciate how beautifully Home Bakery has recreated a scene from the movie Frozen. Home Bakery certainly looks "sweet" from my vantage point.