Winter

Buckley Rollway

Manistee Night

A stretch of the Pere Marquette River known as the Claybanks looks like a winter fairytale world this morning as the biggest, stickiest snowflakes I have ever seen cling to everything in sight. Professional fishing guide Chris "Uber" Raines appears oblivious to the elements as he fly fishes for steelhead.

If you have not made a journey to Leland, Michigan, I highly recommend you make it a point to visit. Leland's most famous attribute is Fishtown, a historic Lake Michigan commercial fishing village. Leland is on M22 at the mouth of the Leland River. If you time your visit correctly, you can watch the two working fish tugs, Janice Sue and Joy, unload their catches of Lake Michigan whitefish.

For years, my mom's family has called this the "deer shack." We would use the old wood stove inside the abandoned shack for a venison fry and all my aunts, uncles and cousins would have a hoedown. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll on the old house and the roof has started to cave in. F5.6 at 1/200, ISO 500, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

365 Week

I love how these three whitetail bucks blend in so well with the large dune and grass at the first curve inside the Ludington State Park. The buck on the left is by far the biggest buck I have ever seen at the State Park. I was shooting photographs of the shoreline and turned around and spotted these guys sneaking behind me.

My uncle, Rod Marble, and a few other woodworkers helped the late Jim Roussin build this beautiful wood boat. As a young boy growing up in Ludington, I would always get excited seeing the Liberty underway. I am not sure when she was last in the water, but I hope to see her afloat soon. F8.0 at 1/50, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 24 mm

The scene before me reminded me of mountains I have seen and skied down with my sons in backcountry areas of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. These "mountains" are actually sand dunes in the southern part of Ludington State Park. On this day, I enjoyed the mountainous look that an unusually heavy snowfall had helped create.

I had to smile the moment this snowman greeted me with a smile on his face in the alley near our photo gallery this morning. He definitely appears to be enjoying winter. I love winter as much as when I was a child building my first snowman. F3.5 at 1/1250, ISO 400, 80-200 mm lens at 86 mm

My son, Brad Reed, is in his element as he photographs one of the most beautiful snowfalls in years in the Manistee National Forest near Baldwin, Michigan. Brad is dressed for success and his camera equipment is built to withstand the elements. This wet snow will be a good field test for his new Nikon D7000 camera.

Lincoln River in Front of Rods Shack

A cold, windy night is brightened by a beautiful sunset at the Ludington State Park Beach House. My dad, Rachel, and I always try to create triangles in our compositions, especially in the foreground

Surf's up! Even on a winter day, Michigander Saeth Gronberg, a former Californian, is drawn to Lake Michigan when the waves are big. Here he waits for the right timing to catch a big wave as another big wave explodes against the Frankfort, Michigan lighthouse.

Miners Falls Waterfalll Near Munising

I wonder how many winters this old commercial fishing tug has endured. Today it and its tender lie frozen in the ice on Pere Marquette Lake.

Of course there is no midnight sun in Michigan, but I could not resist naming this winter Lake Michigan shoreline image after the midsummer Arctic phenomenon.

Chris "Uber" Raines loves the "peace and solitude" of wintertime fly fishing. "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 explains during a brief time out.

The sunset was calm and magnificent. It made for an ideal background for the dune grass at Stearns Beach. This clump stood out to me. I lay down on my stomach and worked to set up the shot, micro composing, so the sun was between blades.