winter

Impromptu Portraits

We had the weekend in Chicago – just the two of us, two whole days to make some good trouble.

My wife, Jaime, is starting to put herself out there as a business owner. She’s a music therapist, so many of her professional portraits feature a guitar of some sort.

With her new enterprise, she wanted some professional images without an instrument. 

So we wandered around Chicago’s loop, walked inside some boutique hotel lobbies, and made some headshots before we got kicked out.

And it was fun. We felt like two teenagers who, at any moment, were going to get caught somewhere they shouldn’t have been.

There was one high-end luxury hotel in particular where I felt the lobby desk’s eyes were on us. But in each location, nothing happened. We got off scot-free. 

The photos? They were just what Jaime was looking for – wardobe changes and all.

If there’s a lesson here, it’s that you should use your photography superpowers to help people, especially people you know and love.

Take them up on their creative idea. You might have a great time doing it. 

All images shot on the Canon EOS M6 and a few EF-M lenses.

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The Enduring Photo: Winter at South Haven, Michigan

Looking through my photo archives recently, I stumbled on photos from a memorable winter trip with my now-wife to South Haven, Michigan. The result of that trip was one of my favorite photos.

I know: we Michiganders are wacky. In college, I took a spring break trip north, to Toronto, instead of south, as most sane people do.

And here we were, a fairly young couple during a freezing cold February, taking a weekend holiday to the icy Lake Michigan shore. We spent a day walking around South Haven, talking to some locals, and wandering over to the lighthouse to catch an amazing winter sunset. 

It was there, on the walkway out to the lighthouse, that I caught this couple holding hands while they shuffled along the path:

It might be one of my most enduring pictures: it won first prize in my local county fair photo competition, it remains one of my most-viewed photos on Flickr, etc. This photo is one of my favorites, too (though it’s hard to go wrong in South Haven, especially in the summer). 

When we talk about photos and light as feelings, this is an example of an image that has endured.

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False Spring

False Spring

This early in March? We Michiganders know better.

Shot on the Canon EOS M and EF-M 22mm f/2.

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No Pressure

Do you want to know the benefits of being a hobbyist photographer?

No pressure.

No client to please. No money to make. No expectations. No deadlines.

If I’m working on a big portrait project, the only deadlines or expectations are the ones I put on myself. And I do, but no one else knows that. It’s just me.

I can go out on a foggy winter morning, after dropping off the kids at school but before heading to work, and explore. Just me and my own desire to make something, see something, photograph something.

There’s no pressure. And it means everything.

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The Coldest Day

It’s cold out there.

Parts of the U.S. are facing an arctic blast – one of those goofy named weather phenomena. In the past few winters, we haven’t had much winter action in Michigan. So on this occasion, I laced up my snow boots and walked around the neighborhood to see what five degrees felt like.

The bright sun and crisp air were nice for a brief minute. But then the wind would pick up and I felt like my face was stinging. 

Not much moves on mornings like this.

Shot on the Canon 5D classic and EF 40mm f/2.8.

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She’s A Beaut

You know what time of year it is.

Time to drive out to the country, pick the best of the best, shake it off, wrap it up, and drive it home to decorate.

It’s Christmas tree time. Red and green time. Fresh air and pine sap scent time.

We finally got some snow time.

Shot on the Canon M6 and EF-M 22mm f/2.

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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.

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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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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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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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Winter of Discontent

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It’s cliche, that old Richard III phrase. But here we are, almost one year later, still dealing with a pandemic and lockdown orders.

I challenged myself to make something out of all this midwinter cold and isolation. It’s finally getting cold, and the snow is sticking around, so I made a point to capture it as I see it: outside the windows of the house that I barely leave.

It’s hard to be creative, stuck inside. We’ve taken a few walks outside. We even went hiking at a local nature center. But by now, that just feels like therapy. The pandemic makes the lower section of Maslow’s hierarchy that much more important.

I did finish my 2020 family photo album. I didn’t take many photos last year, but the ones that I did take really matter. Someday, we’ll look back and remember.

Another creative project: posting iPhone photos to Twitter, just to get them out there. Instagram has been a waste for several years now. Twitter is the only social media network I feel I still enjoy (especially now post-Trump) – why not share some old iPhone images I had captured, edited, and saved for Instagram?

It’s all slow, tough going. But I keep going, as much as I can.

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Bio Dome II

The light can fool you in winter. Sure, it looks sunny and bright, but step outside this artificial atmosphere and you’ll pay the price.

The midwest, in all its January glory.

We’ll watch from inside the terrariums, taking our time in both the arid and humid man-made climates.

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