Category: Photography

The sun, almost as if dotting the “i” of its own reflection, in Lake Michigan.

From a vantage point high atop one of the dune west of my hometown, I, once again, get to enjoy the art of the sunset during this June 2008 evening celebration.

If you look carefully, on the horizon and just to the left of center, you can see the Chicago skyline about 30 miles across the lake.

The sun is setting, reflecting off the clouds, creating a peaceful spectrum of colors above the horizon in this July 2008 picture.

I have the fondest memories of so many wonderful nights like this, year-round, in the dunes and on the beaches near my hometown. So many sunsets, too many to number, yet all unique, each one in its own fascinating way bringing the elements of grass, sand, water, and sky together in a tapestry, or painting, or composition of form, texture, color, attitude, behavior, life that always gave life.

Beach grass is silhouetted against a spectrum of sunset colors in this November 2009 picture taken in the sand dunes adjacent to Lake Michigan near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

This is a July 2009 picture of a lifeguard and the American flag at North Avenue Beach in Chicago. It was a gorgeous day and the wind out of the south helped display the vivid colors of the flag.

A windy day in August 2008 created an abundance of movement and motion in this picture taken at Beverly Shores, Indiana. There is so much going on in this picture that I will not belabor it with written description but let you find your own part or parts and imagine what it may have been like had you been with me that day. The Chicago skyline can be seen in the rays of the lowering sun on the horizon.

Another picture among the nearly one hundred taken that day, that you can find in our Etsy Shop, is Untitled #63.

Living in such close proximity to Lake Michigan and spending countless hours at or near the lakeshore, one is constantly amazed at the changing , fluid dynamics of the concert of tides, winds, waves, currents, and the nuances that seem to sculpt the meeting of land and water.

In this picture, taken in August 2008, we see so many things at play that come together to give us this image. It’s a windy day that, among other, perhaps unknown, undetectable forces, has built up the sand on the beach. And, as the waves wash up over this rise on the lakeshore, the water forms a thin sheet, looking almost molten and reflective, showing a faint image of the clouds and sky.

Unseen in this picture is the other side of the buildup of sand and a small, riverlike flow where the water returns to the lake only, perhaps to become part of the next wave that washes over the top, once again. What can be seen in this picture is the Chicago skyline on the right side of the horizon.

One other picture, of the nearly one hundred taken that day, that appears in our Etsy Shop is Untitled #64.

This bench has immense personal significance to me. To share all the details with you would take a book. This picture was taken as the sun was setting in October 2008. This bench faces Lake Michigan in my hometown. I spent many wonderful hours looking, thinking, meditating, reading, and praying here. I love the way the sun colors this green bench in golden hues.

A year prior to this picture, I had an incredible spiritual experience there that changed my life, purpose, and trajectory. Four and a half years later I would propose to my wife there.

Beautiful history, beautiful colors, beautiful memories.

It was late spring, May 2008 to be exact, and I was walking along the shores of Lake Michigan within the boundaries of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

There have certainly been times where I set out, camera in hand, with the purpose of taking a picture of some certain thing or view. But, mostly, even within those purpose-filled times, I journey with the expectation that I am, in a way, led, guided, drawn to a “place” or “thing” that reveals itself to my senses, and it becomes the object of the moment that I “capture” or “record” as a witness to that moment.

On that 26th of May 2008, as I was walking, enjoying the sights and the slight breeze off the lake, I looked down and saw, what seemed to me, this single blade of beach grass etching its message in the sand.

As always, I want this to be your image, your message. Did I get an impression of what the message meant to me in that moment, all those years ago? Indeed, I did! I remember. But as the years go by and I reflect upon that day and time, the message has evolved, changed, even as my capacity to receive has expanded.

May you receive, from this picture, a beautiful message, perhaps one that will change you.

It’s October 2008 and it had been raining. As I did so often over the years, I has out by Lake Michigan and the nearby dunes. And it’s one of those recurring moments where I’m not really looking “for” something to take a picture of but looking “forward to what may reveal itself” to me. So, having said that, I “happened” to look down and saw the raindrops still evident on the beach grass.

I loved those strolls along the miles of lakeshore and the many adventures in the adjacent dunes; my frequent habitat for all those many years. I haven’t been back for over a decade but hope to return soon with an even fresher perspective yet older eye.

One other picture taken that day that appears in our Etsy Shop is Untitled #11.