michigan

Vandercook Lake

We took the first day of August and hit the lake: paddleboards, swimming, and catching the last sunlight of the day.

From here, we’re off to Door County, Wisconsin, again for our summer holiday. That means more sunsets, more paddleboards, and more time on the water. 

Gotta love summer in the upper Midwest.

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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

 

We’ve always been a musical family, but we officially became a musical theatre family this fall.

The women in our group all joined the cast of Center Stage Jackson‘s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – my daughter Madelyn taking a lead role as Jemima, Riley as one of the ensemble kids, and Jaime as the wicked baroness. 

That meant lots of light nights, back and forth trips to rehearsal, and tired kiddos who aren’t used to staying up late for practice. But the last two weekends, it all came together.

The show’s director, Lisa, is a close family friend, and she let me hang out back stage for some behind the scenes photography. 

Supporting the local arts in our communities means showing up, and lending talents where needed. 

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Ferry Tale

While I don’t use Instagram as much as I did years ago, every once in a while I find a photographer whose work says, “yeah, that’s the good stuff.

Kristopher Shinn is one of those, sharing scenes from Pudget Sound ferries. It made me think of my recent summer vacation trip to Mackinac Island aboard Shepler’s Ferry.

The light is everything. We rode along at the perfect time of day, zipping along Lake Huron.

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Pure Michigan

Swimming and hiking and bonfiring.

Drinking and s’more’ing and eating some more’ing. 

Finding the nature therapy you’ve long needed. Spending time with family. Introducing places like Mackinac Island to the kids, and bringing back memories with you on the ferry ride across Lake Michigan. 

Climbing to the top of a 10-story lighthouse along Lake Huron. Braving the pouring rain or the biting mosquitos. 

Grabbing your camera and capturing the last remaining light of a busy day.

It’s more than a checklist. These are all the elements of a great summer vacation. 

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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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