Tuesdays with Todd and Brad Reed: A Michigan Tribute

Thunder Bay, near Alpena, Michigan is the ultimate Great Lakes shipping graveyard with over 50 sunken vessels that have been found and are easily accessible to view. It is estimated that over 200 vessels have sunk in this area of Lake Huron known as "Shipwreck Alley." Today, my dad and I explored Thunder Bay aboard the Lady Michigan, a glass bottom tour boat owned by the Alpena Shipwreck Tours Company. This photo shows the remains of Scanlon's Barge, which sank in 1929 and is only 13 feet below the surface. As I was shooting this photograph, a fish came by to check out the wreckage as well. F6.3 at 1/250, ISO 1600, 18-50mm lens at 50mm

Photographing lightning always gives me a jolt of adrenaline. This storm that rolled in from Lake Michigan hit Manistee with a punch. I was excited that I was able to capture a small bolt of lightning with only a shutter speed of 1/5 of a second. F22 at 1/5, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 27mm

High above the Pere Marquette River at the Rainbow Rapids picnic area, the heavy wet snow contrasts beautifully with the dark blue-black water to create a very painterly scene. I love the lines and forms that make up this delicate, yet powerful scene.

I honestly believe this fly-fishing-only section of the Pere Marquette River to be one of Michigan's crown jewels of natural beauty. I am mesmerized watching the water flowing over the stony river bottom as Orvis-endorsed fishing guide, Uber Raines, deftly fishes for brown trout. F 2.8 at 1/500, ISO 800, 14-24mm lens at 21mm

A Coast Guard helicopter flies right over me as I am photographing stormy seas on the Lake Michigan shoreline. I make the shot of these aerial lifesavers after having only seconds to change camera shutter speed and aperture in order to render the helicopter sharp but its rotor blades blurred to show their motion. F8 at 1/640, ISO 800, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

When photographing people outside, the color of their clothing and their placement in the scene are vitally important. My dad's bright blue coat is the only vibrant color in the entire scene so your eye is naturally drawn to it. I also used the rule of thirds and put my dad in the upper left third of the composition.

Untold hours of painstaking work went into tying these trout fishing flies. Now Pere Marquette River Lodge guide Uber Rains uses years of trout fishing experience to decide which one will attract a trout. F2.8 at 1/640, ISO 800, 14-24mm lens at 19mm

The mighty small but mighty powerful tugboat Wyoming is dwarfed by the stern of the Great Lakes ship Calumet as the tugboat does its part to control the stern of the large ore carrier. F4.5 at 1/3200, ISO 800, 300mm lens at 300mm

I have always liked how oak trees hang onto their leaves long after the maples have fallen. Today some oak leaves and trees look like winter etchings along the banks of the Rainbow Rapids stretch of the Pere Marquette River.

The tugboat Wyoming is all business. From its reinforced iron hull to its giant cleats and array of towing lights, it is obvious this little ship is built to work. As a longtime Great Lakes sailor, I love how "squared away" the Great Lakes Towing Company vessel looks. F4 at 1/2000, ISO 800, 300mm lens at 300mm

Lighthouses always attract my attention but today I am more attracted to these birch trees on the Manistee waterfront. Brad and I often like to make lighthouses the secondary subject of our Michigan lighthouse photographs. F8 at 1/200, ISO 100, 80-200mm lens at 112mm

At the end of a 12-hour photography expedition through West Michigan countryside and cities, we wind up on the shore of Lake Michigan at Muskegon in time to savor the setting sun. I decide to try one of Brad's favorite techniques

In the last few years my dad and I have gotten pretty good at doing a snow dance in order to help entice Mother Earth to give us some snow to photograph. Earlier this morning when it was gray and raining my dad and I both did snow dances. I guess they finally worked!

Manistee harbor has been a busy shipping, fishing and industrial port since the mid-1800s. This morning a lone recreational fishing boat trolls past the handsomely restored carferry SS City of Milwaukee on Manistee Lake. F22 at 1/10, ISO 400, 80-200mm lens at 100mm

I have always enjoyed the challenge of building strong, unique compositions utilizing reflections. In order to get the building, red roof, and tower of Au Sable Point Lighthouse to show up in the reflection, I had to lie on my stomach in Lake Superior. Thankfully, it has been a record breaking warm winter, but the water temperature still had my full attention. F8 at 1/200, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

Winter arrived in Ludington today while we were gone. This is my view of the Lake Michigan shoreline at Stearns Park upon my return. After donning a lot of foul weather gear, I venture into the blizzard-like conditions to make this shot. This weather is beyond exhilarating.

After having the flu for several days, photographing this beautiful horse was definitely a bright spot in my day. I worked hard at making the horse comfortable with me so I could pose him just the way I needed for my photograph. The key to this composition is how the red sumac behind the horse looks like a musical score and his ears and head relate to the background.

Orvis the dog watched intently as professional fishing guide Chris “Uber” Raines defied the wintery weather to fly fish for steelhead on a flies-only stretch of the Pere Marquette River near Baldwin. The stretch of the National Wild and Scenic River known as the Claybanks looked like a winter wonderland as the biggest, stickiest snowflakes I had ever seen clung to everything in sight. “There is something almost magical about standing in the river as the water sweeps past you and the snow is coming down; it’s mesmerizing,” Raines said. This was a perfect day for die-hard fishermen, Labrador Retrievers and photographers. It didn’t start out that way. January 17, 2012, started out with pouring rain. Brad and I had committed to a yearlong book project, photographing Michigan all day each Tuesday of the year. This was the third Tuesday, so we had to find a way to make good images despite the ugly weather. We say, “bad is good” in outdoor photography, meaning that often the best images are made in the worst weather. I spotted and photographed misty-looking Emerson Lake near Walhalla with a giant weeping willow in the foreground making the scene appear more mystic. Ten more miles down the road Brad spotted a scene sure to brighten the gloomiest shooting day—bright red winter berries amidst cattails. The rain and mist softened the swampy background and made the winter berries rocket out of the scene far more than they would on a sunny day. Even with two good images in the bank, it looked like a very challenging day to make strong book images that would wow people. But onward we went; we were not about to give up. Michigan would surely find a way to deliver on her worst day. By mid-morning we had worked our way to the Pere Marquette Lodge Orvis fishing shop south of Baldwin, hoping to learn where we could photograph some trout fishermen. While owner Frank was obliging us by arranging for us to rendezvous with one of his guides who’d be doing some off-duty fishing, we noticed the rain was turning to snow. A half-hour later, when we started hiking a wooded trail to the river at Claybanks, the world had been transformed into a fairyland. Chris was hoping the fishing would be good. Brad and I knew at that point we were going to catch some magical photographic moments. We each did. This image wound up being my favorite shot of the entire year-long book project, during which I tripped the shutter more than 20,000 times. I sure was glad we overcame our gloomy attitudes at the start of that rainy morning and kept on keeping on. “Don’t be a quitter,” is a lesson my dad insistently taught me, and I’m glad the lesson stuck.

I have been trying every which way to make a portrait of this beautiful horse utilizing some nearby sumac as the backdrop. I concentrate on seeing the relationship between the horse and the sumac while also trying to capture a moment when the horse looks best. My telephoto zoom lens helps me simplify and fine-tune the composition.

Being a guide on the Pere Marquette River involves a lot of work, so being asked to stop and fish while guiding for a couple of photographers is, for Uber Raines, like being sent to trout heaven. I think this view shows why the Pere Marquette was chosen as a National Wild & Scenic River to preserve the natural beauty of the river and control public access to it. F4.5 at 1/400, ISO 800, 14-24mm lens at 16mm