Todd and Brad Reed’s Michigan: Wednesdays in the Mitten

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.

Rain Dance by Brad Reed The rain rarely stops my dad and me from getting outdoors to photograph. Today, we stood in the freezing rain and fog along the shores of Mona Lake near Muskegon, Michigan, to photograph bald eagles. Our good friend, Louise Olson, had told us several eagles congregate near the lake's east edge by some open water. Sure enough, we were not even out of the truck yet and could see several eagles. The rain and fog are what make this photograph more unique. D7000, F5.6 at 1/2000, ISO 3200, 600mm lens at 850mm

The Holiday Inn Express in Munising, Michigan has become our home away from home when we are photographing in the Upper Peninsula. Thanks to a Facebook alert on my cell phone, I knew the northern lights might appear in the middle of the night. Every hour I got out of bed and went out on the porch of our hotel room to check. At around 4:50 a.m., I could see the lights over Grand Island. I set up my camera and tripod and made this image. In a few short hours my dad and I would be hiking across the ice to photograph the caves on Grand Island.

Photography is always therapeutic for me. The isolation, ruggedness, and wild spirit of Isle Royale has made me more contemplative than usual. As I snap this image, I am busy thinking about what is really important in my life.

My dad and I have hiked several miles today carrying our heavy telephoto lenses, full camera bags, and tripods all over Isle Royale hoping to get a photograph of a wild Michigan moose. Unfortunately, we never saw a moose, but we did find some wonderful views on our adventure. On our way back to our room at the main lodge, we explored Suzy's Cave. My dad photographed inside the cave and I climbed to the top and photographed the grand view from above.

My dad and I would probably never have ventured across the ice on Lake Superior to the Grand Island Ice Caves if it were not for Facebook. We both spend a lot of time on Facebook looking at other Michigan photographer's work. Several people had been posting excellent photographs of the ice caves near Munising, Michigan and we knew we had to go. We called our friends Mike Schlitt, Bill Dietrich, and Wally Barkley and the five of us made the journey to Grand Island. D7000, F9 at 1/60, ISO 100, 10-20mm lens at 10mm

After an incredibly long and hard day of hiking and shooting photographs on Isle Royale, at around 11:30 p.m., my dad and I decided to take a chance and make the short hike to Tobin Harbor to see if the northern lights were out. To our surprise, we could see them as soon as we got onto the seaplane docks. We needed to set up quickly to ensure we got good images before midnight so we could use them in our new Wednesdays book. I knew from past experience I needed a 15-minute exposure. Multiple loons and at least two moose were calling back and forth over the water.

Was Superman born here? That is what I kept asking myself as I stood in wonder looking at the glorious ice caves on Grand Island near Munising, Michigan. The colors and formations were like nothing I had ever seen. They did not look real and it is hard to get a sense of scale from this photograph of how large these caves actually are.

Tonight I took our college intern, Brett Whitehead, out on the Ludington North Breakwater so he could shoot video of me as I photographed the SS Badger carferry going by from one of my favorite "hot spots." The fog was an added bonus. D800, F6.3 at 1/640, ISO 3200, 14-24mm lens at 24mm

The Muskegon River was under a flood warning today because of all the melting snow. When my dad and I heard the news, we explored new roads and came upon this spot northeast of Muskegon on Duck Lake Road. Luckily, we didn't get our truck stuck, but we did forget a camera bag that a DNR officer recovered for us later that day. Thankfully, everything was still inside and not soaking wet. We got a good chuckle out of our crazy day.

Today on the Little Cedar Creek near the Muskegon River, the golden light hitting the trees created a beautiful reflection. The hardest part of making this image was avoiding my own reflection.

The Ada Covered Bridge was built in 1867 and has stood the test of time. Next to the bridge is an impressive railroad bridge that is still in use. I was fortunate today to have a Mid Michigan Railroad train go rumbling by just as I got into position to make this image. I wanted good depth of field in this photograph so I set my aperture at F8. In order to have a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the speeding train and shaking earth, I needed to rob the ISO bank. I set my ISO to 800 and was able to get the look and feel I wanted in this photograph.

This morning my dad and I drove to the middle of the state on US10 so we could photograph Dow Gardens in Midland. As the sun was rising we found this tree between Reed City and Evart. The fog mixed with intense sunlight created a beautiful scene in front of us. I stopped my lens down to F22 in order to make the rays of sunlight show up more distinctly.

Our first visit to Dow Gardens was a photographic success. My dad and I were both impressed with the aesthetics of the famous gardens in Midland. All of the employees were exceptionally nice and helpful as well. Dow Gardens is another Michigan treasure that is perfect for an afternoon of family fun.

The founder of the Dow Chemical Company, Herbert Dow, developed the original eight acres of the Dow Gardens in 1899. Today, the Dow family continues to improve and develop the now 110-acre botanical gardens. I highly recommend making a trip to Midland to visit the gardens, ponds, sculptures, bridges, and waterfalls. Don't forget to bring your camera!

My grandma, Dorothy Reed, is very proud of her flower gardens. She and my grandpa get much joy out of watching the songbirds and butterflies dance through their yard near the Ludington State Park.

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.

In the last few years, my dad and I have been very fortunate to spend a lot of time exploring Michigan's Upper Peninsula with our cameras. Besides shooting the Lake Superior shoreline, we love exploring waterfalls we have never been to. This morning we have made the short hike to Laughing Whitefish Falls for the first time. This might be my new favorite waterfall in Michigan.

My aunt and uncle, Sue and Randy Marble, just purchased a large canvas of this photograph of the White Birch Forest. This incredible forest is about 16 miles west of Grand Marais on Alger County Road H-58. The first week of October is often a good time to visit the White Birch Forest to see the surrounding maple trees in peak fall color.

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.