Category: Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore

Pieces of a Puzzle

Published on by rdmegr

This past Saturday, I rose early and began driving to the Leelanau Peninsula in time to get there before dawn. The weather forecast called for several hours of fog and I saw lots of it on my drive. But as I got to the peninsula, the fog seemed always to be one step ahead of me. I caught up with it at Bass Lake, but when I stepped out of my car, I was swarmed with hundreds of mosquitos. I had bug spray, but I felt outgunned. So I retreated to my car and continued my drive north. In the end, I caught up with the tail end of the fog at Port Oneida and Sunset Shores.

I made a number of images. They are pretty good, but none of them stands on its own. Nor do they tell a story when viewed together. But each of them could be a piece of a puzzle in a future story. So I have processed and cataloged them hoping that I can use them in some future posts. I decided, though, to share them here, with a brief explanation of why they caught my eye.

The beach at Sunset Shores was still engulfed in fog when I arrived. I have photographed here for a couple of years. Unlike other beaches I have visited in the park, the beach at Sunset Shores has some erratic stones that add interest. I have photographed the beach in different seasons and at different times of the day and night. These images add to a collection of photographs that may sometime become a study.

When I returned to my car, this tree stood out to me. The hints of magenta and yellow in the tree’s smooth bark were such a contrast to the deep, rich greens in the forest. How I would ever use this photo is not clear to me, but the contrast between this tree and the others in the forest compelled me to photograph it.

The barn on the Dechow Farm is known to anyone who drives though Port Oneida on M-22. There’s nothing really special about this barn itself. But, the way the low-lying clouds shrouded the hill behind the barn got me to pull off the road and take a photo.

Fog rose behind the trees in the field across the road from the Dechow Barn. The sun was breaking into the field from the east. The scene was serene, but by the time I set up my tripod and leveled my camera, the magic beams of light began to be snuffed out by the clouds. The light would have been the star of the photo had it lingered. Instead, the star of the photo is the feeling of calm as the fog softens the view.

I have taken many photos of the outbuildings on the Carsten Burfiend farm, but never from this angle. The fog totally obscured the hill in the distance. The image by itself has a hard time standing on its own, but it may contribute to some future story.

The farms at Port Oneida no longer operate. They were acquired by the National Park Service over 50 years ago. The buildings now stand witness to a past community that eked out a hard living farming the sandy soil. The buildings are not, however, the only witnesses. If you look closely, you can find other signs of the past. Among those signs are fence posts that still stand, though the fences themselves are long gone.

Winter on the Third Coast

Published on by rdmegr

Earlier this week, I traveled north to the Leelanau Peninsula to see what winter has brought to northwest Michigan’s shoreline. I began my exploration in Frankfort, Michigan, where the Betsie River flows into Lake Michigan. Snow and sand were piled up on the beach while the lighthouses that mark the opening of the harbor were covered in ice.

On the shoreline was a collection of benches. They faced the town, but one bench stands sentinel, looking towards the lake.

A few miles north of Frankfort, is the Point Betsie Lighthouse. I have photographed here many times. It is especially interesting in the winter when the ice forms of the trees and the breakwaters.

North of Frankfort, after you enter the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, you cross the Platte River. I followed the river down near where it enters Lake Michigan. As it makes a turn to the lake, it cuts through an area of dunes.

Sand Dunes on the Platte River

Another ten miles or so north is Empire, Michigan. As you stand on the beach, Empire Bluff is to the south, while the Sleeping Bear Dunes are in this distance to the north.

Empire Bluff
Sleeping Bear Dunes

I stopped near the Dune Climb to photograph the frozen mill pond and the snowy dune.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

I finished my trip with a visit to Good Harbor Bay, where Shalda Creek flows into Lake Michigan. It always interests me to see the path the Creek cuts to make its way to the lake.

Shalda Creek before it reaches Lake Michigan

Get the Cliché Out of the Way

Published on by rdmegr

Suzanne Fritz-Hanson, who co-hosts the Everyday Photography Every Day podcast with photographer Michael Rubin, coined the phrase “get the cliché out of the way” to suggest how photographers should deal with the urge to take the obvious photo that everybody snaps. Who can resist taking a photo of Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley or a sunset over Lake Michigan? And why shouldn’t you take your own photo of the iconic scene, even if it is a cliché? Once the cliché is in the bag, you can move on to shooting popular subjects from unusual points of view and creating original images.

I recently returned from spending a week with my family at my frequent haunt, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The focus of the week was spending time with my son and his family, but I did get out in the early morning and on a couple of evenings to take some photographs. In the limited time I had, I fell back on the clichés, photographing things I have seen countless times before. My excuse is that I was working with a new camera, learning how to use all the new features. And besides, it was fun. So here’s a mishmash of photos from the trip.

What could be more cliché at Sleeping Bear than a photo of the iconic barns on the D.H. Day farm? I was there on two foggy mornings and couldn’t resist.

This tree that stands in Narada Lake may not be an iconic image, but it is one I frequently photograph, hoping to find the right light and right angle to make a compelling image. I rarely succeed. But this sunrise with bands of clouds made the scene worth taking.

On another foggy morning, I headed to North Bar Lake. The fog had mostly lifted but the reflection of the trees and the dune in the water and the curvature of the cloudbank drew my attention.

The fog lingered on the south end of North Bar Lake. There, I noticed a pair of Sandhill Cranes walking along the beach and approached them cautiously to get this photograph.

If you search for “Teichner” on this website, you’ll see that I have photographed the cedar trees at the Teichner Preserve several times in the last six years. Perhaps the site is becoming cliché for me, but I am drawn to the location and keep looking for new perspectives on the scene. (If you are looking at this on a computer rather than a phone, click a photo to seen an enlarged image.)

Another site I return to often is the Basch farmstead in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. The simplicity of the house and the granary continue to draw my eye. The light on this evening reminded me of the light in some of Edward Hopper’s paintings.

One evening when the conditions seemed right, I headed to the beach at Port Oneida to photograph that mother of all clichés, a sunset over Lake Michigan. When I pulled into the parking area, I was captivated by the dappled light on the trees.

On the shore, I waited and waited for the ball of the sun to appear. It never did. Others who were on the beach with me impatiently left, but I waited around to see how the setting sun would light up the clouds. Taking a long exposure, I captured a beautiful, soft glow as the sun slipped below the horizon – a photo I would consider more than a cliché .

Quiet Moments

Published on by rdmegr

Here is my submission to the Glen Arbor Arts Center‘s Members Create exhibit this summer. Titled Quiet Moments, it is a triptych of images taken during in the winter of 2018. Winter is my favorite season in which to do photography. Dressed in layers, I willingly endure the cold so that I can enjoy the solitude of the beach. Except for the sound of the waves, the world is silent, muffled by the layers of snow, and I embrace the peaceful feeling that wells up in me.

The images are separately framed, but have always been exhibited together. The Members Create exhibit runs from June 6 to August 7, 2025, at the Arts Center at 6031 South Lake Street in Glen Arbor. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunset Shores Beach

Published on by rdmegr

I had an opportunity to spend the night in Glen Arbor to do some night photography at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I had hoped to photograph the Milky Way, which is making its annual reappearance after wintering below the horizon. I did my homework, using the Photopills app to find a good viewing point, and checking six different models for the weather forecast. According to my research, if all went well, I would have clear skies between midnight and 1 a.m., when the Milky Way would be visible across the horizon at Sunset Shores Beach.

I visited Sunset Shores Beach on Thursday afternoon to scope out a place to set up later in the evening. Unlike Good Harbor Beach and Esch Road Beach, Sunset Shores Beach has some large stones, including an erratic boulder, which I hoped would make a nice point of interest for the foreground.

I came back to the beach to catch the sunset to make a few photos. If everything went as planned, Sunset Shores seemed like the perfect spot for photographing the Milky Way.

Well, the weather cooperated. The clouds didn’t roll in until after 1 a.m. But, apparently there was a little operator error in using my Photopills app to determine when the Milky Way would rise above the horizon. I didn’t see the Milky Way, but I had a wonderfully clear evening to try work on my night photography (a work in progress).

The erratic boulder did a nice job anchoring the foreground. And the ten-second exposure smoothed the waters of Lake Michigan. No Milky Way, but a nice shot of the celestial heavens. I’ll have to figure out what I did wrong for when I have another opportunity to enjoy the night sky at Sleeping Bear.

Some Winter Photos in Sleeping Bear

Published on by rdmegr

So far this year, Leelanau County (Michigan’s little finger) has had 124 inches of snow. I took advantage of this yesterday and visited Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, making a random group of images.

As always, the sun came up yesterday, but it was hidden behind a blanket of dense clouds and blowing snow. Shortly after sunrise, I began taking photographs on Aral Road, a two-track that passes over Otter Creek. Setting up my tripod spooked the ducks that were floating in this old vestige of the mill pond that was here when the creek was dammed and a saw mill was located just a bit downstream.

Near the creek, a sumac tree was outlined in white.

I stopped by the Tweedle Farm. The red of its outbuildings and the rust on the silos stood out against the gray sky and white snow.

The Mill in Glen Arbor is an old grist mill on the Crystal River. It has been wonderfully restored and given new life with a couple of restaurants and great space to relax by the river.

I can’t stop taking photos of the granary on the Peter and Jenny Burfiend Farm in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. The stark geometry and bright white of the granary make it stand out against the landscape, even when the landscape is covered with snow.

This is a photograph I took years ago of the Burfiend’s house that they built after establishing the farm in 1882.

I took this photo of the garage on the farm yesterday.

Across the field and beyond a swamp on the shore of Lake Michigan is the farm of Peter Burfiend’s father, Carsten, and mother, Elizabeth. There are several outbuildings on the farm, but only the foundations of the barn and silo remain.

On the way home, I stopped in the southern portion of the park where the Platte River flows into Lake Michigan. There I found a spot where the snow had blended with the sand of a dune between the river and the lake.

The Beach in January

Published on by rdmegr

Earlier this week, I drove north to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, my old reliable spot for finding interesting things to photograph. I am sure that I pass many wonderful scenes as I make the three hour drive early in the morning, but Sleeping Bear has my heart and calls out to me in all seasons of the year.

The day was cold and windy. The combination of 20 degree temperatures (Fahrenheit) and winds gusting to 45 miles per hour, created a windchill that hovered in the single digits. Nonetheless, I headed to the beach to see how the shore ice had developed. On my last trip to Sleeping Bear, just two weeks ago, there was no shore ice. But the cold temperatures and high winds in the intervening days made all the difference. As I approached the beach from the parking lot at Esch Road and looked north toward Empire Bluff, I could see that the ice had indeed built up along the shore.

Waves crashed against the wall of ice. I thought of trying to capture some images of the waves, but realized that in the wind and the cold, I didn’t have the patience to stand in wait for the right wave to come along. Besides, once I got down to the shoreline, my view of the lake was blocked by the ice wall, so I could not see the action of the waves and could not anticipate when to trigger the shutter.

I decided that making images along the shoreline would be the order of the morning. Ice balls formed a ridge just feet from the shore, bringing to mind the spine of some ice creature laying in wait.

Along the shore, the sand cracked underfoot.

Otter Creek flows into Lake Michigan at the Esch Road Beach. I visited Otter Creek back in December, expecting to photograph images of snow and sand but was disappointed by the lack of snow. On my trip earlier this week, there was plenty of snow but Otter Creek itself was free of ice except along its shores.

Photographing in such bitter cold calls for some compromises. I returned several times to my car to change camera lenses. There was so much sand blowing in the wind that it would have been unwise to do so on the beach. I ended up leaving my glasses in the car since they kept fogging up. I had to trust my camera’s automatic focus because, without my glasses, I could not check critical focus on my camera screen. A number of images for which I used a slow shutter speed turned out to be blurry. Even on my tripod, my camera shook in the wind.

After a couple hours on Esch Road Beach, I drove to Sunset Shores Beach on Sleeping Bear Bay. The road to the parking area had not been plowed, requiring a short hike through a foot of snow to reach the stairway to the beach. The ice wall at Sunset Shores was not as large as the one at Esch Road, so I could look across the Manitou Passage to North and South Manitou Islands and could see the action of the waves.

At the base of the stairway to the beach, this cedar tree caught my eye. I liked how the pattern of the bark contrasted with the smooth, white snow. I decided that the image worked best in black and white.

The images I made on this trip were serviceable. None are really notable, but they testify to the beauty of the beach in winter. Even without a “prize-winning” image, I would mark the day big success. I enjoyed meeting the challenge of working in the bitter cold. Not surprisingly, I was the only person on both beaches. To have such a remarkable place to myself was a gem. I can’t wait to return.

Otter Creek

Published on by rdmegr

Yesterday, I posted about my visit to Shalda Creek last week. That got me looking back at images I made in December on Esch Road Beach, where Otter Creek flows into Lake Michigan. In my past visits, Otter Creek flowed almost directly into the lake. Conditions have changed, however. Lake Michigan has dropped several inches in the last year, dipping about 5 inches below historic levels and expanding the beach. So the creek has had to cut a new path to the lake. I was surprised to see that the creek has taken a left hand turn and run parallel to the shore for about fifty yards before flowing into the lake.

I came to the beach hoping to make some abstract images of snow and sand mixing together similar to this photograph, which I took last January.

I liked the way the sand and the snow blended together. But, alas, this year there was no snow on the beach. I continued to scout around and found some interesting images along the shore of the creek.