Water Ripples

I am obsessed with photographing water ripples. Some day we hope to do an entire book of these abstract ripple shots. Blue is my favorite color and I love how many different shades of blue appear in this photograph. The sky tonight was bright blue and had tons of huge white puffy clouds that reflected on the calm waters of Lake Michigan as we stood at the elbow of the breakwall in Ludington with several workshop students.

I am obsessed with photographing water ripples. Some day we hope to do an entire book of these abstract ripple shots. Blue is my favorite color and I love how many different shades of blue appear in this photograph. The sky tonight was bright blue and had tons of huge white puffy clouds that reflected on the calm waters of Lake Michigan as we stood at the elbow of the breakwall in Ludington with several workshop students. Fuji S5. F2.8 at 1/400, ISO 100. 70-200mm lens at 200mm. On a tripod without a flash. July 2, 2009 at 7:51pm.

I am obsessed with photographing water ripples. Some day we hope to do an entire book of these abstract ripple shots. Blue is my favorite color and I love how many different shades of blue appear in this photograph. The sky tonight was bright blue and had tons of huge white puffy clouds that reflected on the calm waters of Lake Michigan as we stood at the elbow of the breakwall in Ludington with several workshop students. Fuji S5. F2.8 at 1/400, ISO 100. 70-200mm lens at 200mm. On a tripod without a flash. July 2, 2009 at 7:51pm.

The clean, sandy bottom of Lake Michigan near Ludington is what has helped make the Ludington City Beach world famous. Every year it is rated as one of the best beaches in the country and more than once it has been made the list of the top 10 beaches in the world. I used that clean, sandy bottom to my advantage today to make this photograph. F5 at 1/400, ISO 100, 70-200mm lens at 200mm

The kids and I drove to Round Lake tonight. They used to spend time here when they would visit their grandma before she moved away. The reflections of the clouds on the water were a great subject to shoot.

The Huron River makes its way through Ann Arbor and flows through sections of the University of Michigan's campus. Today the bright sunlight has caused the brilliant fall leaves to be reflected in the gorgeous river that was named in honor of the Huron Band of Native Americans. F2.8 at 1/2500, ISO 800, 70-200mm lens at 145mm

Finally, I am headed to get the kids. It will be so nice to wrap my arms around them. As I am headed over the river flats on old Pere Marquette highway, the sun is out and shining on the water. I can see the gorgeous reflections lighting up the river. I decide to take a few minutes to pull over and compose this image.

By closing the aperture down on my camera lens to a tiny hole at F22, I knew I could create hundreds of little star shapes on the surface of Lake Michigan today while photographing at South Haven, Michigan. Because so little light was entering the tiny hole in my lens, I needed to bump up my ISO to 800 in order to get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the motion of the rolling water. We teach all of our workshop students to operate their cameras in full manual exposure so that they can be in control of how their photographs look and feel. F22 at 1/2500, ISO 800, 70-200mm lens at 200mm

It is often hard for people to believe that photographs like this can be "real" and not just a bunch of computer manipulation. You have to train your eye to see where the color is really hiding. Tonight, I found the intense color on a small area of water on Hamlin Lake near the Middle Bayou. I used a large telephoto lens to show the viewer the real color. F9.0 at 1/8000, ISO 100, 600 mm lens with 1.4 extender at 850 mm

Fire wake

Silver Fox Ripples

Florida Gator

Quick Silver

I have never been good at painting, but if I were, this is the kind of art I would try to create with a paintbrush. I thank God my dad helped me discover my inner artist with a camera. I also thank God for creating the Pere Marquette River. My family has spent our lives on or near the internationally-known water system.

I have no regrets for shooting abstract photographs that rarely sell. I could sell lighthouse photographs until I am blue in the face, but my real passion with my camera is to photograph the abstract and overlooked parts of the beautiful world around us. This scene was a reflection in the fountain in front of the library on the campus of Michigan State University. F1.8 at 1/1250, ISO 100, 85mm lens at 85mm

While trying to photograph some ducks on the Sauble River at the Ludington State Park today, I decided to shoot the colorful water ripples instead. The key to shooting good water ripple photographs is to raise your ISO so you can put that added light into your shutter speed. I robbed the ISO bank up to 6400 on this image so I could get my shutter speed up to 1/3200 of a second and totally freeze the moving water.

I enjoy isolating a scene by using a telephoto lens. Often the best color and most intense light can be captured best by zooming in on one small area. Tonight, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, I used a 200mm lens on a cropped sensor camera so I essentially had a 300mm lens.

After being stuck behind the slowest driver in Mason County and not being able to pass them, I was sick to my stomach for missing a shot out at the Ludington State Park of the largest double rainbow I had ever seen in my life. I missed it by less than 30 seconds. Disappointed, I drove to the Ludington City Beach to watch the sunset and to cool off. To my surprise, we had a colorful sunset appear. Luckily for us, my dad captured the double rainbow and it has become one of our fastest selling images of all time and made the cover of our newest book Wonderous West Shore.

After being stuck behind the slowest driver in Mason County and not being able to pass them, I was sick to my stomach for missing a shot out at the Ludington State Park of the largest double rainbow I had ever seen in my life. I missed it by less than 30 seconds. Disappointed, I drove to the Ludington City Beach to watch the sunset and to cool off. To my surprise, we had a colorful sunset appear. Luckily for us, my dad captured the double rainbow and it has become one of our fastest selling images of all time and made the cover of our newest book Wonderous West Shore.