All Images

Heaven, Please Let Your Light Shine Down

I took this image in mid April of 2020. It's the field next to my house. There's really nothing special about it, but I was quite taken with the way the light was shining down. Throughout this year, 2020, I have really tried to keep positive. And I admit that it has not been easy. First, my Dad passed away, then the pandemic, and now I've found out that a good friend is in hospice. Not to mention the small things that feel like death by a million paper cuts. I've kind of been feeling ripped apart, like this freshly plowed field. My soul feels crushed. It's funny though, this field that has been trampled on by tractors, ripped and torn apart by the steel blade of the plow and disc, will produce new life again. But not without something from above; the light and the rain from the heavens. Verse 18 in Psalm 34; "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." So, yes, I am the field, ripped and crushed by this world. But HE is the Light that shines down and saves me. Life springs anew from the ground, but not without the light and the rain from above. It's with this verse tucked into my heart that I'll fall asleep tonight and begin tomorrow anew.

Lake Michigan Frenzy

This is from October 12th, 2019 in Grand Haven. The waves were, well, kind of crazy that day. They weren't rolling in one after another. They were trying to overtake each other, crisscrossing each other, slamming into each other. It seriously felt like the lake was boiling at times. They kept pounding their way up the beach. My wife, who was sitting on the sand next to where I was standing, had to scramble to get out of the way and move further away several times. As waves crashed, the spray would be immediately blown away by the gale-force winds.⁠

Hues of Sliver

We all think of sand dunes as being beige, and water and sky being some shade of blue. But as daylight turns to night, and the sky changes color... so does everything else. In this image, which is a long exposure with the sun setting behind the sand dunes, the sky turned a peachy orange with some magenta mixed in. The dunes fell into shadow, which, mixed with the light from the sky, turned a dark blue. The lake catches and reflects some of the skies colors. It was a mid-August night at Silver Lake State Park. The wind was non-existent... The air was a comfortable temperature but was cooling off as the night wore on... A young family playing and splashing in the water nearby... An occasional boat crosses the lake with a student skier in tow... How relaxing...

Horizon Light

The waves of life may be a bit rough right now, but the light on the horizon IS getting closer. Because of the 'shelter in place' order here in Michigan, in combination with working from home and some cloudy weather, I've not gotten out much lately to photograph anything. So, I've been going through old photos to see what I could post. When I came across this image, it struck me as appropriate for our times. The coronavirus is like the waves battering our shoreline, and yes, doing some damage. But the horizon is in our sites and it is clear and the light is beautiful. This image is from last October. My wife and I were on our way north and we decided to take a pitstop in Ludington and see if there might be a decent sunset to see. The clouds were a bit low and did not produce the color we had hoped, however, the waves were putting on a show and the horizon was still pretty. Even though our current situation is not what we would've hoped for, we need to keep our eyes on the horizon and the light that will come.

Peace & Solitude

No politics... No covid 19... No stock markets... No worries... Not here anyway. . I headed out to Yankee Springs Recreation Area this morning, hiked through the woods in the darkness and just enjoyed the sounds of nature. I needed this. . With the world seemingly going crazy, I needed a little peace & solitude. It was a beautiful morning. By the time I reached the lake, there was some absolutely wonderful light coming from over the trees on the opposite side of the lake. . I love this time of day in nature. I could hear some ducks quacking off in the distance, geese honking across the lake, and either some cranes or blue herons making whatever you call the noise they make. . Peace and Solitude

Autumn's Warmth

This starburst sunset is from mid October. . We had spent the day driving up and down M22 looking for a place to shoot sunset. It wasn't that we couldn't find a place, it was more that we couldn't choose from so many possibilities. . We finally settled on the beach at the end of Esch Road. What a beautiful night it was and what a beautiful beach. . It was just warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough that there weren't any bugs. . The waves were gently lapping the beach... A young couple having their engagement pictures taken just down the beach.... A family of four were walking the beach looking for rocks... . Peacefulness...

Golden Sunset

A sunset from mid-October. This was taken on my wife & I's 21st anniversary. How many of you get to spend their anniversary taking pictures? . Well, she was right next to me with her camera and tripod. How lucky am I? I got to do what I love with the one I love. . We headed north for a long weekend, and we took in this awesome sunset in Frankfort. It was just a tad cool out, especially as the sun continued on down. That's ok because the fire in the sky warmed our hearts.

Pre-Sunrise Mackinac Island

Another new day is about to dawn on Mackinac Island. A new day with new beginnings. The night stars fade into the light. Yes, there are a few stars showing above the clouds. . On this particular mid-August day, the sun would chase the moon across the sky. Of course, here, only the moon is showing as the sun had yet to rise. . I've been thinking a lot about new beginnings lately, ever since my Dad passed away. And while I find myself often reminiscing about him, I'm also forced to think about how to begin my life without him. . I continue to find myself thinking I need to ask him something and of course, I can't. It's ok, though. The dawn brings new light, a new chapter to live out.

Peek A Boo

The sun was just beginning to rise and was peeking over the horizon.

Gray Day at the Pond

Gray clouds... A layer of thick, wet, sticky snow... A pond normally teaming with algae in the summer, now with a fresh layer of... slush... A hickory tree weighed down with snow... Even gray days can be pretty...

Shadows of Ludington

Funny thing about sunsets and lighthouses, I'm never the only one that wants to enjoy and photograph them. 😀 I just couldn't get all of these people to stand still for my long exposure. lol. ⁠ It does, however, create an interesting effect... Shadows of where people were one second and gone the next. ⁠ That's one of the things I love about photography, not only can you capture a SINGLE moment in time, but you can capture SEVERAL moments in time in a single shot. ⁠ I could've edited out the shadows, but I think it's kind of cool looking. What do you think?⁠

Star Trails Over the Pier

Sometimes you just get lucky.  I went out to Holland Beach well after dark a couple of weeks ago intending on getting some Milky Way pics.   While I was there I thought I would experiment a bit.  I wanted to try a long exposure of just the breakwater light and see what I would get.   Let me set the scene.  There was no moon, so it was very dark on the beach.  Other than the lights from far off beach houses, the only light was from the lighthouse (Big Red) and the breakwater lights.  Honestly, I could see only about two steps in front of me and that was it. There was also a pretty stiff breeze. I carefully made my way over near the water's edge, not too close though, I didn't want to get wet.  I set up my tripod and camera and aimed it toward the blinking green of the north breakwater light.   I could see stars above fading away on the horizon, giving way to some light clouds being lit up by what I assume were city lights in Wisconsin across Lake Michigan.  For the most part, what I was aiming at was darkness.  At least that was all I could see in the viewfinder or LCD on the back of my camera.  At most I saw a green blinking light. I did take a quick super high iso shot just to see what was in the composition.  I adjusted my aim and leveled the camera a bit, took another quick shot and decided I was ready for the long exposure. I set my iso at 100 and my aperture as wide open as it would go.  Then I clicked the shutter remote and my 5-minute timer at the same time.  Because of the wind, I huddled around my camera trying to block the wind from shaking my camera.  It made for kind of a long 5 minutes.  :) When the timer went off and the shutter was closed, I looked at the image on the back of my camera and was pleasantly surprised at what I saw.   Star trails, golden clouds, and the breakwater light reflecting off of the lake.  I feel like I got a little lucky on this one.  

Grand Haven's Waves

Lake Michigan was throwing a bit of a tantrum on October 12th, 2019. Grand Haven's South Pierhead Outer Lighthouse was taking everything that the lake was throwing at her. ⁠ This was probably the first time I'd been to the big lake when the gales were so strong and whipping the lake up into a frenzy. It almost seemed like the lake was boiling at times.⁠ The wind was out of the southwest. The sand was blowing so hard it stung. There was a hint of coldness in the wind, but I hardly noticed. I was so mesmerized by the show the angry lake was putting on. ⁠

Sunset Hopes In Copper Harbor

Red rocky beaches... Driftwood... A dead calm Lake Superior... It's a great way to spend an August evening. We left Copper Harbor heading west on M26 in search of a sunset. We were hoping to make it around the northern bend of the Keweenaw Peninsula in time to catch a view of it. We were starting to get discouraged as the light faded. Eventually, though, we found this little gem of a beach.⁠ It's not the kind of beach we were used to seeing in the western part of the lower peninsula. No sand here. Just rocks with a reddish hue. I'm assuming the red is from iron in the rocks, but I'm not really sure.⁠ Those reddish rocks are pretty cool in the daytime, but when the light from the setting sun hits them they are absolutely beautiful.⁠ Sunset found. ⁠

Exposed

No wind... Blazing sunset... Gentle waves lapping the shore... My wife and I spent a mid-October evening watching the sunset at Esch Road beach. It was a beautiful night. As we were leaving and approaching the car I felt a tug on my arm. My wife had turned around and looked back and was wanting me to do the same. Needless to say, the camera came back out. This lone silhouetted tree, stripped bare of its leaves probably from the recent storm only a day or two before, stood there silently gazing at the sun's afterglow, empty limbs reaching for the last of the suns embers for the day.

Moody Afterglow in Holland

I headed over to Holland beach on an early November evening. The sky was mostly cloudy and moody but it was clearing across the lake. As the evening wore on, the clouds showed just a hint of losing their moodiness and began showing a subtle bit of color. Pockets of light began dancing all around the clouds. The horizon, as you can see, had a beautiful afterglow after the sun sank below it. Big Red sat there silently, watching the light show, as did I. The air temperature was in the high 30's or low 40's. It was quite cold, but there was a certain warmth in that light that danced amongst the moody clouds. It took a bit of the chill off.

Sunset Under the Mac

A warm Septembers evening... A fiery orange sun makes its way toward the horizon... Clouds radiate the fire of the sun and the darkness of the night to come... Waves softly lapping the beach under the Mighty Mac... A father and son take a stroll under the bridge to get a better view of the sunset...

Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan

Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan

Silver's Afterglow

After a long mid-August day, looking for a place to relax... Silver Lake is the place to be... Only a few clouds in the sky.. The far off sand dunes are in the shadows... Most of the people have left the beach... A lone pontoon boat slowly putters its way across the lake... A long exposure of Silver Lake taken about an hour after sunset. The afterglow of the sunset and the blue from the sky made for an interesting colored reflection in the water.

A Moonlit August Night

Night photography is such an amazing and challenging type of photography. I really had no idea what to expect when I went out on this beautiful night in Ludington State Park. ⁠ The moon was about 70% full so I was unsure if I would get any stars in my shots. To my surprise, the light from the moon was casting a beautiful light that looked so amazing in a long exposure. And the stars? Yes, they showed up.⁠ I found that as long as I didn't have the moon in my frame I could get great star shots AND a foreground that was wonderfully lit by the moon.⁠ It was a mid-August night... The air was a nice comfortable temperature... The air was still... The waves were softly lapping the beach below... A ship made its way across the horizon, slowly & silently... The stars twinkled above, while the city lights across Lake Michigan lit up the distant clouds... The beach grass and trees around us were softly lit by the moon... Peaceful...⁠

Upper Tahquamenon Falls

Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan

Sunset Gathering

It was a warm September evening. The sky was cloudless but hazy. This made for a wonderfully warm orange glow as the sun slowly made its way closer to the horizon. The lower the sun sank, the more people gathered to watch. They slowly moved out onto the pier, trying to get just a little closer to the object of their gaze. The crowd grew, but the noise that they made was getting quieter. Something about a sunset makes people just want to watch in quiet awe. That's another thing about sunsets, they draw the most diverse crowd one could imagine. Race, social status, rich, or poor... None of it matters at this moment. They all come together to watch the transition of day into night.

Cool Autumn Day at the Beach