michigan

Summer at Sandhill

Lately, I’ve had the itch to get out and shoot more. Sometimes, hobbies can come and go in waves – often depending on what else is going on in life. Right now feels like a crest, where I want go make more photos.

Saturday evening at Sandhill Crane Vineyards was a good chance to shoot. It was a lovely summer evening, with off and on clouds, and the sun was popping in and out of the clouds. As soon as it popped out during sunset, I took a walk around their mini festival to see what I could see.

And something different: I strapped a EF 28mm f/1.8 to my Canon EOS M, using the EF-to-M adapter, for a ~42mm field of view. 40mm tends to be my comfort zone. Even though the camera felt a little front-heavy, the FOV was perfect. 

So was the light, and the setting, and the music and drinks all around. 

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Life In a Northern Town

We had a record ice storm hit Michigan last week. It swept across the U.S., but on Wednesday night, it struck the Great Lakes with particular fury.

That night, we listened anxiously while tree branches cracked and fell, breaking power lines all around us. We had an oak tree snap in half and block our street because of the weight of the ice. I braved falling branches the next morning to go around the yard and document everything sheathed in a clear coat. By the afternoon, all the ice had melted. The storm swept in and swept out quickly.

For two nights, we huddled in the basement as a family, wrapped in blankets while the temperature inside the house dipped to 47° F. We only got the power back on Saturday, and what a relief. But driving around town and seeing all the wreckage, we were lucky.

That’s life in a northern town.

 

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Fall Things

This weekend we did fall things.

In October, it’s like this all over the midwest: pumpkins, apples, cider, and donuts. Some of our local cider mills are now so busy that we have to go looking for quieter, more intimate places. We found that at Red Egg Farm, just outside of Jackson. It had all the traditional autumn stuff we wanted – cider slushies, hay rides, petting zoo – without the busy crowd of some other places.

We also visited Adams Farm to pick up actual apples (for cider) and pumpkins (for carving) to bring home. 

We did fall things, because it’s that time of year. 

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Hale

It’s been a year of new homes, with our family’s, and my dad purchasing a cabin in Hale, Michigan – in the northeast, close to Lake Huron.

We took Independence Day weekend and traveled there for the first time. It was our chance to get out of town, spend some summer days outside, and see a new place. 

We found everything we were looking for in the pastoral scenery, the cool and clear lakes, and the natural beauty you find in northern Michigan. 

I almost brought a film camera to fit the setting. After all, every 50 miles you go north you travel back in time 10 years. But that will have to wait. I didn’t want to fuss with film and settings and remembering how to use my Canon AE-1. I wanted to keep it simple.

Simple is good. That’s why we’re here. 

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West Michigan in Winter

It’s an annual cold-weather tradition: heading to Lake Michigan in the dead of winter to see our nearest Great Lake frozen.

This year, we were near Saugatuck, Michigan, and visited the lake on a sunny but very chilly Sunday afternoon. Visiting Lake Michigan this time of year is like landing on a different planet: cold, windy, the beaches barely recognizable. Beyond the snow hills, the lake was heaving – big waves of ice and snow, full of terrible power. 

Before that, we indulged in some hygge at one of my favorite cideries, Virtue Cider in Fennville, Michigan.

I discovered Virtue Cider randomly: one time I grabbed a random six-pack of cider at a local party store. After taking it home and loving it, I’ve been a fan ever since.

The cidery was hosting a Wassail party, but because of the freezing cold, they canceled it. That didn’t stop us. We still wanted a warm lunch and good cider, so we went anyway. 

Despite the weather, it’s important to get out and enjoy the cold when you can. 

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Real Winter

Real Winter

It’s nice to have real winter weather – freezing cold, snowy, and a bit sunny – instead of our as-of-late damp and cloudy winters.

Working from home, I appreciate looking out on lovely January day. 

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Edge of Creation

Living in Michigan, no matter where you are in the state, you’re never more than an hour or two away from one of the Great Lakes.

Our proximity to these bodies of water inspires so many of our summer family vacations. This year, we went north to the Traverse City and Leelanau Peninsula region. We love our Door County, Wisconsin vacations so much that we wanted a similar experience this summer. With its apple and cherry orchards, numerous lakes, and varied landscape, the peninsula provided everything we look for in a holiday. 

Despite the rain, we had a great vacation – a great mix of playing outdoors, relaxing by the lake, and exploring M-22 and the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

A funny thing happened at the world-renowned dunes: we visited during a particularly foggy day, where all of Lake Michigan was enshrouded in a heavy vapor. From the top of the dunes, you couldn’t see the lake at all.

We all looked on in amazement. It’s like we were staring at the edge of creation – down the dunes, you would fall off the end of the world.

Luckily, further north along the dunes, we did find a place to sit on the beach and swim in Lake Michigan.

Our state is fairly average in almost every way – except the scenery. If this is the edge of the world, we’re happy to be here. 

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Michigan On Ice

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Sunshine, a great lake, and lots of fresh air – we needed it.

After Jaime and I took a trip to South Haven a few winters ago, we swore we had to come back. To see that heaved ice hanging onto the shoreline, to see that frost-encrusted lighthouse again. Maybe grab another beloved shot of strangers trudging through the cold.

The lakeshore is like another planet: a mix of sand and ice, and off in the distance an unfrozen lake. The ice in the pier heaved, like the lake was breathing – a living, swelling mass of ice.

I brought along my seldom-used Tamron 24-135mm zoom lens to give it some exercise. I’m usually a prime guy, but with scenery like this, I wanted to be prepared for whatever came up.

We dragged the kids along with the grandparents with us, too. The children were constantly on a precipice: one slip, and we’d lose them to what felt like the void. 

On the ride home, we could’ve all fallen asleep. We were tuckered out. All that cold and fresh air did us good. 

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City Without Seasons

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Last week, to get out of the house, I did the uncool thing and headed downtown to see what it looked like with our governor’s shelter-in-place order.

As Florence sings, it was a city without seasons. March is the November of spring – the weird in-between one. No leaves on the trees, no flowers blooming just yet, and streets as empty as can be.

The truth is that downtown Jackson is pretty empty on weekday nights after 5 p.m. But last week it was extra desolate. I stopped a person or two wandering around downtown, just like me.

Things really got interesting when a guy noticed me taking pictures. “Hey, want to take photos inside the theatre?” This is Jackson’s Michigan Theatre, the city’s lone operational classic theatre. The man was wearing a protective mask. I’m not sure what his role was at the theatre, but he had the whole place to himself. I got the sense, as I was taking photos inside, that the guy was simply lonely. Or he wanted to show off the place. I had to excuse myself after 10 minutes, or else the man would’ve given me the full tour of the place. 

So I headed back outside, into the sunshine, to photograph our empty downtown.

With spring coming, and with more light, it’s nice to have the option to get outside and walk around.

Fresh air may be the best hope we all have of staying sane.

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