Wonderous West Shore

I have been traveling since well before dawn today in search of magic Michigan moments. I have found several book-quality images but as I pull into the lakeshore parking lot at the end of Frankfort's main street, I am certain I am looking at another.

During an early morning workshop shoot, my dad and I took 15 students to Little Sable Point Lighthouse. We love being at the lighthouse as the sun rises above the huge wooded sand dunes to the east. The dunes keep the sun from hitting the lighthouse directly for almost thirty minutes after sunrise. Once the sunlight finally arrives, it can be very dramatic. As Galen Rowell would preach, shoot with your camera from the shadows into the light.

Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan is always a fun and beautiful celebration to be a part of. Team Reed loves to explore all the public tulip gardens with our cameras. We recommend photographing the tulips with the largest telephoto lens that you can so that you can have a super shallow depth of field. I shot these with a 600mm lens with a 1.4 extender at 850mm.

I can get lost every spring in the beauty of gardens full of tulips in Holland, Michigan. I love studying all that color and finding the picture within the picture - a tulip or two that stands out in the crowd.

The highways and byways of the rolling farmlands north of Grand Rapids are one of my favorite places to find beauty. I love the way this field of corn stretches its way to a hilltop woodlot decked out in fall color.

The corn is tall, the roadside wildflowers and weeds are in full bloom and the crisp blue and white sky has shown up. These are all signs that September has come to Michigan's West Shore. These are early signs that autumn is coming.

Farming remains a major, vital industry throughout Michigan, including Scottville. I admire farmers like Tyler Martz who have the work ethic and expertise to till the land. Martz was preparing this field for planting asparagus. The grain storage and other structures of Acres Co-Op, Inc. tower behind Martz's tractor.

Driving the scenic route home to Ludington tonight from the Muskegon State Park on Lake Michigan, I drove by White Lake long after sunset. I was shocked to see the beautiful afterglow in the distance. I pulled off the road, grabbed my camera, and made this image. Digital cameras see in the dark. It was much darker to the eye than this photograph appears.

The heart of small towns and villages dotted across West Michigan agricultural areas is often a sizable grain elevator/feed mill operation. I think the Tri-County Feed Service facility provides an impressive entrance to New Era when approaching from the north.

My sister-in-law, Misty Reed, was born and raised in Pentwater, Michigan. The house she grew up in is just a block away from the beach and it is a family tradition to walk down and watch the 4th of July fireworks. Tonight, I was fortunate enough to join her and her family for some beautiful fireworks.

One of the greatest visual spectacles of the year along the Lake Michigan shoreline is the Fourth of July fireworks displays held in port communities. For this one in Ludington I planted my tripod in Lake Michigan so that my camera would be immersed in the fireworks reflections.

Big Sable Point Lighthouse has a lot of history. As for our family, both my brother Budde and son Tad got engaged at the top of the 1865 structure. On this April day, I made this image then spotted a couple at the water's edge obviously getting engaged. I recorded their historic moment with my camera from a distance and later gave them a photograph.

I like to call it the "Marne Barn" because I am always on the lookout for it when I pass by it on I-96 west of Marne. The Mart Egan & Sons barn is one of the prettiest, best kept barns in Michigan. On this snowy day I felt compelled to get off the freeway at Marne and find my way there to photograph it.

We found an old garage on the south side of Muskegon with a roof that created the American flag out of shingles. It was the coolest roof that I have ever seen. Someday I would love to do this on my garage.

Rising dramatically from the Silver Lake shoreline, sections of the Silver Lake Sand Dunes look as grand as the Egyptian Pyramids to me on a September day. The light and shadow playing on the dunes often is the best after the masses have left. We love exploring the dunes during the quieter times of year, especially during September and October when the light is often magical.

I often stand for long periods of time and watch the vibrant colors dance on top of the water. I find it visually stimulating and very relaxing. This morning, the surface of Hamlin Lake was dancing in blue.

Everyone loves seeing apple blossoms decorate the countryside of the Lake Michigan shoreline counties in springtime, but I am among the many who get just as excited to see the apple trees loaded with apples ready for harvest at the end of summer and during fall.

Nothing pops out of the countryside more than bright red Michigan tart cherries. They are so bright and shiny they glow in the daylight. I never get tired of taking photographic road trips through the orchard country of Michigan's West Shore counties.

I love it when a picture comes together. I have passed this beautifully cared for old barn many times while traveling M22 on Old Mission Peninsula. Today, at the peak of blossom time, it stands out like never before.