Spring Break in Chicago
Chilly, but always worth it.
Shot with my new Canon M200 and a few different lenses.
vacation
Another World
Also on our California itinerary: Joshua Tree National Park, a long car ride on our last day so I could introduce the family to the desert.
“It’s like another planet,” my wife said, driving through the limestone boulders, washed clean by ancient floods.
Those were the exact thoughts I had 17 years ago, driving through New Mexico, Arizona, and eastern California. Another world.
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.
This And That in Wisconsin
A continuation of my Door County, Wisconsin, series from this year’s summer holiday. This time, a few scenes from around the cabin in Idlewild.
And to finish up, a few random scenes. I always see something worth holding on to (besides cheese and cider) when we head north.
Until next time.
Door County, Wisconsin
Kicking off a series of photos from our summer vacation spot: Door County, Wisconsin.
Yes, we’d been there in 2018 and 2020. We love the area so much that we went back this year for our family holiday.
Different cabin (the big one), different month (August instead of June/July), and different crowd (we brought the in-laws), but other than that, it was as spectacular as it always is.
I take a memory card’s worth of photos wherever we go. Above is a series of windows I saw along the way. Here are some natural spots:
More to come next week.
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.
Keep This Quiet
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin – looking forward to heading there again this year for our summer vacation.
Magic Kingdom
More on our trip to the Magic Kingdom.
Light, shapes, shadows, and colors – it’s all there.
World of Disney
My wife’s family is a true Disney Family™ – the kind that go to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, every two years. Like clockwork.
It is a nice break from the cold Michigan winters, and a good way to burn off all those holiday calories. My daily step count, at minimum, triples when we’re walking the parks.
This year we had COVID to worry about, but Disney handles the pandemic crowd with clear expectations. Everyone is on their best behavior in the Most Magical Place on Earth.
For me, there are parts of Disney World that I love to photograph. The Africa and Asia sections of Animal Kingdom, for instance, or the optimistic futurism of Epcot, my personal favorite park. The Florida sun helps the bright colors and faux landscape truly shine. This year, the weather was perfect every day, and I checked off sites on my photography bucket list again this year.
Yes, the Mexico pavilion is a fake Aztec temple, and yes, the art deco architecture at Hollywood Studio is a rose-tinted reproduction of Hollywood’s glory days. But I tend to photograph light and shadow as much as the scenery in front of me. Even if the background is Disney Fake, the light is real. That sunrise and sunset are real. The people moving through the parks are all real.
We go to Disney World to escape. For me, one reason I go is to focus on my photography – something that usually takes a hit during the winter.
Cancún
We don’t take vacations like this – so sunny and so tropical.
But when a friend turned 40 and invited us to a trip to Cancún, Mexico, with a group to celebrate, we enthusiastically came along. The warm Mayan Riviera climate when Michigan is facing down another long, cold, gray winter? Count us in.
Then the friend got COVID, and the rest of the couples bailed and took the trip credit for next year, leaving just us two.
We never did get a honeymoon. This is as good of a chance as any.
There were reservations about airplane travel across an international border. We had to leave the kids for six days just as Michigan’s COVID-19 numbers were spiking. And after my grandmother passed away and we took on a kitchen remodel project, we were leaving an awful lot of undone.
In the end, it was well worth it. The resort community in Cancún took guest health and safety very seriously (even wearing masks on a windy beach – a bit overkill if you ask me). We did all the adventuring we could fit in a few days, and we took advantage of quiet, warm beach days to simply breathe and enjoy the view. Cancún was a mix of old and new that was a lot of fun to explore with my camera – from the Mayan ruins to downtown Playa del Carmen’s shopping district, with a lot of peninsular jungle in between. Plus lots of tequila.
Maybe this tropical stuff isn’t so bad.