Category: My photography

I spent yesterday morning photographing in the Point Oneida Rural Historic District of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We’ve had so many clear blue skies lately, it was exciting to have some clouds to bring some interest to the sky. As I drove up from Grand Rapids, I wasn’t sure where I was going to start photographing, but once I saw the clouds passing by the moon in the western sky, I knew exactly the shot I wanted to start with.

The granary on the Pete and Jennie Burfiend farm in the Point Oneida Rural Historic District has a special charm and simplicity.  This photo was taken 45 forty-five minutes before sunrise, and the clouds quickly moved by the waning moon.

I found my next composition in the field behind the house and farm buildings on the Thoreson farm.  Here, the rising sun reaches the remnants of the “new orchard.”

While waiting for the light to strike the tree at the center of the photo, I noticed the setting moon over the pasture and the birches that line the road.

I have had my eye on an old McCormick-Deering hand-crank tractor in the barn of the John and May Burfiend farm on Port Oneida Road.  It always seems to be in the shadows as I go by. But, yesterday the sun was just right to light up the grill of this beauty.

Also along the Port Oneida Road is the farm of Carsten and Elizabeth Burfiend.  The farm includes two houses and a number of outbuildings.  Here’ the shop and the granary.

The barn on the Burfiend farm is gone but the foundation remains.

A roller is among the old farm equipment left of the farm.

Here’s the entrance to the brooder coop and a few detail shots.

(Click on an image to see it larger.)

This house was built for Pete and Jennie Burfiend in 1893. Pete took over the farm when Carsten became too old to work it. Eventually, Pete’s son Howard operated the farm.

Howard and Orpha Burfiend built this house in 1928.

The outhouse.

The Burfiend’s beach on Sleeping Bear Bay.