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.
Todd Reed's Day 142 of 365
I have used this same tree to frame pictures in both fall and winter. This morning
Todd Reed's Day 171 of 365 - Panoramic
One of the most radiant sunsets of the year greeted me as I took a hike while my wife and her study buddies continued to study for yet another in a long line of nursing tests. This view of Ludington harbor was from atop a sand dune near my former home at Crosswinds
Todd Reed's Day 171 of 365
One of the most radiant sunsets of the year greeted me as I took a hike while my wife and her study buddies continued to study for yet another in a long line of nursing tests. This view of Ludington harbor was from atop a sand dune near my former home at Crosswinds
By the Light of the Moon
After a long day shooting my portion of Week 21 of Tuesdays with Todd and Brad Reed: A Michigan Tribute, I noticed while shooting the sunset afterglow that the crescent moon was high above the Ludington lighthouse. I was tired and hungry. I could have gone home content with the several good images I had already made during my 200-plus miles of Michigan photo hunting travels that special early summer day. However, more than four decades as a photographer had long since proved to me that patience and perseverance are rewarded. I also knew the moon would not be setting at a peak shooting time the next day. I was rewarded with one of my all-time favorite moonset images and an excellent home-cooked meal afterward. Fortunately, my wife doesn’t mind eating late. Living with an outdoor photographer does not lend itself to strict dinnertime schedules.
Sleeping Bear Point
The rocks are what most intrigued me during a 2008 shoreline hike at Sleeping Bear Point. I love the color blue, so I was also therefore drawn to the blue look to the rocks in the shadowy twilight. It took me longer than it should have to understand that the natural world often looks richer in dimmer light than brighter light. With adequate exposure, magic often appears on film or sensors in very low light.
Angels Wings
A male mute swan stands and spreads its wings after preening its feathers on a small bayou on Lost Lake at Ludington State Park. This is the moment I waited patiently for in our photography skiff at a respectful distance. It came after what seemed like an eternity of preening feathers. The backlighting of the bird and dark shaded background made the result worthwhile! I am so glad Brad and I chose to wait.
F7.1 at 1/1000, ISO 800, 300mm lens at 300mm
Venus Solar Transit
My son Brad and I teamed up to make this last-time-in-our-lifetimes image of the planet Venus crossing in front of the sun. It would be another 108 years before another Venus solar transit. Brad and I shot this photograph at Big Sable Point Lighthouse at 9:18 p.m. on June 5, 2012 as the sun dropped toward Lake Michigan six minutes prior to sunset. What a phenomenal way to cap off Week 23 of Tuesdays with Todd and Brad Reed: A Michigan Tribute.
High Meteotsunami
The Ludington North Breakwater was underwater for a short time on April 13, 2018, at the height of one of the largest meteotsunamis ever observed on Lake Michigan in the Ludington area. I photographed the flooded pier (image top left) from the Ludington beach at Stearns Park moments after a fast-moving hail and rain storm swept ashore. Only nine minutes later, I captured the much lower than normal water level (image bottom left) as the flood waters washed back into Lake Michigan. Notice the shallowness of the water and the amount of boulders visible along the edge of the pier. According to NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), two separate meteotsunamis occurred within a short time. GLERL said the meteotsunamis were caused by “short, extreme bursts of wind and pressure.” The Weather Channel reported that thunderstorms trigger most meteotsunamis. Small meteotsunamis are not unusual but destructive ones like this one tend to happen only once every 10 years on average, according to Eric Anderson of the research laboratory
Todd Reed's Day 229 of 365
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
Burning Light
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.
Fish Town Family
With one of her youngsters safely tucked behind her, an adult otter clutched her other baby after a swimming and food hunting expedition on the Leland River at Fish Town. A mooring line ran between them. The scene reminded me of swimmers hugging between lanes after finishing a race. I am certain this was an emotional moment for the otters.
Todd Reed's Day 237 of 365
The clouds have been stunning all day. I have already made several good Lake Michigan shoreline photographs. Yet I knew that if the clouds stuck around, the evening light would make the clouds more colorful. Sure enough; with the luck of the Irish, the Emerald Isle ferry returns to Charlevoix from Beaver Island at the peak of magic light.
F4.0 at 1/500, ISO 400, 12-24 mm lens at 24 mm
Todd Reed's Day 239 of 365
Magic light strikes the path to the Green family farm on Beaver Island. Ludington friends Tony and Betty Green invited Debbie and me to visit the 120-acre farm established by Tony's family nearly 150 years ago when they emigrated from Arranmore Island, Ireland to this Lake Michigan island.
F4.0 at 1/40, ISO 200, 80-200 mm lens at 165 mm
Todd Reed's Day 246 of 365
I live for days like this when Lake Michigan displays its awesome power and beauty. The feeling of 40-knot wind gusts in my face, sound of waves rushing and sight of water flying over the Ludington lighthouse overwhelm my senses. Before making this shot, I warned several swimmers about a recent drowning in the same location.
Todd Reed's Day 268 of 365
September 25, 2010”
“Glorious,” I was thinking as I saw this scene through my viewfinder. While chasing the light at Ludington State Park with weekend photo workshop students, I remembered this nearby interdunal pond just in time. These less traveled spots in Ludington State Park have provided me with some of my favorite landscape views. The sands, water and plant growth are ever-changing. The always-changing light and clouds magnify the difference. Sometimes, all of nature’s parts come together; this was one of those times.
Todd Reed's Day 289 of 365
October 16, 2010”
We teach our photography workshop students to look for saturated fall colors in the reflections of leaves on the water. I took my own advice on a pond along Pere Marquette Highway.