Todd Reed: 50 Years Seeing Michigan Through a Lens
This album contains images from Todd Reed: 50 Years Seeing Michigan Through a Lens
Explore 50 years of Michigan’s beauty in this uniquely showcased photography art book by Todd Reed - first through his eyes as a highly acclaimed photojournalist, then as a distinguished Coast Guardsman, and since 1975 as one of Michigan’s best-known award-winning outdoor photographers. Travel along with Todd as he recalls stories and recollections of family and friends as he worked four careers simultaneously to eventually attain his goal as a full-time photographer and gallery owner. Discover Michigan’s four seasons as he displays his favorite scenes from across our great state and invites you to share in his memories.
Todd Reed has been photographing Michigan for 50 years and is considered by many to be one of the best landscape photographers in the United States. Todd and his team have published a large format, high-end, hard-cover coffee table book that highlights many aspects of his life and professions to commemorate that wonderful milestone.
The retrospective book is 12 inches square and has almost 400 pages. The book includes a few old family photos from when Todd was young. It also has several images from Todd’s 23 years as a photojournalist at the Ludington Daily News. Of course, the book includes many of Todd’s best-selling images of all time, along with new, longer stories behind those timeless favorites over the 50 years. In addition, Todd was very busy making new photographs in his 50th year, and the book showcases 67 of his brand new, never-before-seen images from 2020.
Snowy Woods
During our hike back from the Eben ice caves, my favorite Robert Frost poem came to mind as I stopped in the woods to appreciate the equally stunning sight of the snow-covered woods. I was in a rush on my way to the caves and passed up making a shot in these woods. Early that evening on the way back all was still and perhaps even more magical looking. I felt like Robert Frost must have felt when he stopped in the woods on a snowy evening.
Michigan Tapestry
A Michigan State Policeman pulls up behind us along US10 between Evart and Clare to see if Brad and I need assistance. We don't. We have pulled over to photograph the tapestry of fall colors screaming at us from a bog and woods. We thank the officer for his thoughtfulness and go back to work trying to convey how stunning the woodland scene in front of us looks.
Looking UP
You know you are in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when you have to look 100 feet up to see the top of a waterfall. I was at the bottom of Laughing Whitefish Falls. I liked the name almost as much as the tall falls located near Chatham, about a half-hour away from Munising
Michigan Rocks
A world of natural wonders awaits those who walk a Great Lakes shoreline. Looking down, as my Grandma Benson taught me, I saw thousands of fascinating rocks as I hiked at 12-Mile Beach on Lake Superior. But this sight at the water’s edge stopped me in my tracks. I wanted to take this view home with me as a reminder of the beauty of autumn at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Old Mission Dreamscape
A sudden snow squall on an April day diminishes the light falling on Old Mission Lighthouse but gives the scene a painterly feel. Using a telephoto lens and focusing on shoreline grasses instead of the lighthouse beyond gives the historic structure even more of an impressionistic feeling.
F7.1 at 1/500, ISO 800, 80-200mm lens at 200mm
Christmas Tree Buck
I was sitting in one of my favorite blinds at Legends Ranch on a cool mid-September morning. The ground fog was so thick in dawn’s early light that I could barely make out the bottom half of some small pine trees a few hundred yards away. As the fog began to lift, I noticed a smaller tree or bush underneath the edge of one of the pines. As I was about to look elsewhere, the bush moved and then grew two to three times in width. It was then that I realized I was actually looking at one of the most magnificent whitetail bucks I had seen in the several years of stalking bucks at the world-renowned hunting ranch near Bitely, Michigan. He was pivoting his head in my direction. I decided to name him Christmas Tree Buck due to the tree he chose to bed down by and because of the size of his rack. This was one of my most memorable mornings of my life deer hunting with camera or rifle.
Halloween Treat
Halloween arrived in Mason County this morning with bucket loads of rain and even an occasional snowflake. But as experienced outdoor photographers, Brad and I know that nature’s nasty weather tricks can come with some unusually good treats. So back to Conrad Road I went to photograph the tunnel of trees between the Polcin and Greene farms for the fourth time in five days. The fourth time was the charm.
The Big Blow
I learned in the Coast Guard to be “Always Ready” for whatever Lake Michigan threw my way. As an outdoor photographer, being “Always Ready” is still a motto I try to live by. And since a November gale is as predictable as a calm day in July, I make certain I am especially prepared and alert for the arrival of that big November blow. Sure enough, on November 6, 2007, Lake Michigan looked like it was in a Mix Master. I donned my waterproof, insulated clothing, Fuji S5 camera body and 500-millimeter Nikon lens and hustled to the water’s edge. Lying in the sand (and occasionally water) on the Ludington beach, I extended the tripod legs flat and let the occasional wave washing beneath me help bury the tripod solidly in the sand to minimize movement resulting from the powerful northwest winds. After nearly an hour of shooting, at about 2 p.m., sunlight began breaking sporadically through the storm clouds. The resulting “storm light” turned on my adrenaline like a light switch. I was totally engrossed in trying to shoot peak moments of light and wave. I made several images in which the waves totally obscured the Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse as they flew over the top of the lamp house. Then came the moment I was looking for—that delicate balance between power and beauty. Mission accomplished.
Twisted
A giant white cedar tree twists its way toward the sky like a giant corkscrew. This natural treasure is part of a several-hundred-year-old virgin white cedar forest on the southeast side of South Manitou Island. Visitors to the island can take a long hike to view these marvels or can sign up for a wagon tour of island attractions which includes a short hike into the cedar forest.
Endless Autumn
Fall color stretched as far as the eye could see, and the morning mist allowed, as I stood in awe at the edge of the Manistee River High Rollway, also known as the Buckley Rollway. This is, without a doubt, the best grand scenic vantage point for fall color I have discovered in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. How is it that I had never been to this magic spot before?
Twin Peaks
I watched in awe for two hours as wave after enormous wave slammed into the Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse on February 24, 2019. I have rarely witnessed or photographed bigger or more frequent waves exploding against the seemingly invincible structure. Many of my several hundred exposures show water flying up to 100 feet in the air and the lighthouse nowhere to be seen. Persistence paid off when I finally caught one huge descending wave still higher than the lighthouse as the next one shot skyward above the lighthouse during its ascension. I had never seen two waves tower above the Ludington lighthouse at once. I was fortunate to artistically document the rare moment.
November Splendor
Life is full of timing. As an outdoor photographer, it has long been made painfully clear to me that Mother Nature’s timing most often does not coincide with my previsualizations. I have long imagined this grand maple tree along North Lakeshore Drive in Ludington with snow on golden leaves. A couple decades passed before the tree looked picture-perfect on November 6, 2019, telling a beautiful story of the transition from fall to winter in Michigan.
Edible Arrangement
I want to reach out, grab these cherries and put them in my mouth to eat them. But I don't. That would ruin a perfectly good picture, I think. How long can I wait to have cherry pie after seeing these scrumptious tart cherries at Hackert Orchards in Riverton Township in Mason County?
Spring Around the Corner
March often comes in like a lion, but during the month Michiganders can almost be assured that the sticky snow which comes with warmer temperatures will create some fairy tale worlds on Michigan country roads.
Look What's Up
I have watched these red pine trees on our land grow for several decades. They were already tall then. Now they tower several stories above me as I look up at them. The woodlands of Michigan are a marvel and I love hiking slowly to more fully take them in. That often means pausing to look up for a different visual experience and appreciation.