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.
Badger Bingo
Watching from our “Crow’s Nest” front porch vantage on the Ludington waterfront, I could see a major thunderstorm approaching from the southwest. If it continued on its northeast course, the lightning would soon be upon us and in line with the carferry Badger, moored dockside in its home port. All I had to do was set up the tripod and camera, adjust the settings, compose the picture, wait for the lightning to show up, and have the shutter tripped at just the right moment. Experience and lengthy exposures of at least 10 seconds increased my odds. I love playing the lightning photography game. Bingo!
Super Natural
Deep within the forest in the northern part of Ludington State Park lies a pond that my son Brad and I have discovered to be a delightful place. We watched this male wood duck and several others for more than an hour on a late September morning. We waited patiently for them to come closer and then looked for those magic moments when the splendid ducks fit in perfectly with their marshy home.
G Park
A solid gold sunset greeted me on the Lake Michigan shoreline this evening. I loved the way the light was playing on the beach and small outlet.
Lake Michigan Lava
The sand along the Lake Michigan shoreline looks like liquid gold tonight. It is incredible how a late September sunset can transform the appearance of the waterfront.
Pileup at the Bridge
It looked like the world’s largest bulldozer had been at work in the Straits of Mackinac, pushing thousands of tons of rare “blue ice” into mountainous piles near Mackinac Bridge. Actually, forces of nature—wind, waves, and the expansion of ice—teamed up to break the blue ice, drive it ashore and stack the broken sheets. This February 23, 2012 morning was the first time Brad and I ever saw the blue-hued ice. We had seen photographs of the rarely occurring natural phenomenon but thought they must have been taken in the arctic, not Michigan. Seeing is believing!
Super Blood Moon
The moon’s “cheese” was not only highly visible but took on a beautiful golden red hue during the lunar eclipse on September 27, 2015. At this point, the moon was almost totally eclipsed. I ended up liking this image better than my total eclipse shot because I felt that the slight highlight of the uneclipsed edge made the photograph more exciting and more three-dimensional looking.
Sunflower Immersion
With a field full of thousands of sunflowers to pick from, I set out to create a picture with only one star of the show. After at least 20 minutes of studying hundreds of sunflowers near the edge of the big field along Conrad Road, I made my choice. I liked how beautiful this sunflower was and the spatial relationship between it and the sunflowers surrounding it.
Out of This World
Anyone lucky enough to be standing on the storm-flooded Lake Michigan beach near the Second Curve on October 18, 2007, at 6:49:21 p.m., would have been overwhelmed by the scene before his or her eyes. This was an incredible moment in time, obviously a beautiful, powerful view. But there was something more: an unreal, out-of-this world quality, a feeling that comes to me only when I witness some of the most rare natural phenomenons. A meteotsunami (meteorological tsunami) had flooded the beach.
In Transition
Nature, in transition between fall and winter, presented a rare double feature on a mid-October day near Hamlin Lake. The earliest snows of the season often cling to the trees the best and hang on long enough to still look pretty when I discover them.
Magic Moment
Sunrise on the Pere Marquette River—designated by Congress a National Wild and Scenic River—revealed a scene to match the designation. The affectionate sand hill cranes did not appear to notice my presence. I remained as motionless as possible while frequently shooting as their positions and the light constantly changed.
Ludington Light Show
When I made this image of Northern Lights on October 24, 2011, I was the lone photographer on the Ludington South Breakwater. In recent years, since the advent of Facebook and cell phone apps to alert photographers to the presence of Aurora Borealis, or the potential for them to appear, I am seldom alone whenever I travel to the Lake Michigan shoreline to attempt to catch a light show.
Michigan Wonderland - Panoramic
Viewers of ABC's Good Morning America selected Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as the most beautiful place in America. Whether or not you agree, just this single view from one of the Stocking Drive scenic overlooks proves Sleeping Bear is a spectacular place.
D800, F9 at 1/1000, ISO 800, 70-200mm lens at 200mm
Michigan Wonderland
Viewers of ABC's Good Morning America selected Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as the most beautiful place in America. Whether or not you agree, just this single view from one of the Stocking Drive scenic overlooks proves Sleeping Bear is a spectacular place.
D800, F9 at 1/1000, ISO 800, 70-200mm lens at 200mm
