Apr
16
(Shhh! Don’t tell Mo-Z, but his due date is today!)As happy as we all are to say sayonara to 2025, the year did provide some lovely opportunities for me to snap some sweet shots. Mostly kids and cats, here’s a sampler of my favorite images from the year that was.
During her sister’s swimming lessons, granddaughter Charlie sweetly clings to Mommy, Taylor.
Aug
23
Imagine yourself taking middle-of-the-night photos with your iPhone balancing on a dragged-over beach chair. Carefully press the button, then jump out in front of the lens, standing still for the remaining 25 seconds.
Michigan does summers really, really well. But nighttimes here can be extraordinary.
Jan
17
When we finally sat in the BZ4X, my wife and I both felt like Goldilocks breaking and entering into the bear’s bungalow. As previous Prius owners, we both thought, “This is just right.” The acceleration threw us back in our seats and all the gauges & clusters felt normal. It was pretty instantaneous for both of us and a big upgrade.
EVs are fun and great for the planet.
I just bought the LAST car I thought I’d buy. And I LOVE it!
We are the proud owners of a barely used Toyota electric vehicle, the oddly named BZ4X. It lived in California for all of its 3,000-mile-life, was marked down about $25,000 from its 2023 new price and is fully loaded with every bell & whistle you could ring or blow.
Dec
30
Forty Favorite Frames
I am incredibly lucky and amazingly grateful for my year of adventure, work and family. Here are some of my favorite photos, taken from as nearby as right here at this computer and as far away as the Southern Hemisphere, 600 miles out to sea or a couple miles high, yet somehow still standing on the ground.
My granddaughter jumped onto the chair, raised the blinds and waved bye-bye to Mommy who promised she’d be back within the hour … (she was!)Read More
Nov
21
Arriving on the ship for our Galápagos expedition, my dad’s cousin, Dick, takes a break, relaxing after our long journey to arrive here.
“I’m not getting any younger,” he said as we were sitting in his Chicago home, readying to fly to South America. “This may be my last hurrah.”
A photo expedition to The Galápagos
A sea lion rests atop a rocky climb on South Plaza Island in The Galápagos while frigatebirds fly overhead.
The sea lion couldn’t have cared less about me. It was as disinterested as the iguana that I almost stepped on while photographing my cousin getting off the plane. That tortoise I took a dopey picture with? Yeah, as indifferent as they come.
I wasn’t expecting that down here on The Galápagos, just a touch south of The Equator and 600 miles out to sea.
Only about 500 people lived at Machu Picchu at its peak. That’s incredible, considering the built-out area is about one million square feet.
Machu Picchu is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an overall really cool place to visit.
HOWEVER, people really don’t talk about just how involved it is to actually get there. I wrote about my recent visit in some detail here, but I thought it was important — for those considering the journey — to lay out a bit more detail about all the moving parts of the expedition.
Yep, that’s me doing the iconic tourist shot of Machu Picchu. (You have no idea how many tries it took this professional photographer to actually get it right!)
I’m sitting in a courtyard 11,000 feet up in the mountains. Breathing is difficult, especially since our tour guide pressed us to climb even higher into the Andes to see the impressive stonework of Incan ruins. I’ve sucked in several minutes of hotel oxygen, provided in the lobby. And I’ve downed cups and cups of coca and mint teas to combat altitude sickness. Every website warns against alcohol consumption.
I order a drink.
We squeezed the last drops out of summer at a dear family friend’s cottage on the shores of Lake Michigan this past week. Here are some of my favorite images; cold plunges, beach buddies, fashionable headwear, chilling out and vibing on the ridiculously unbelievable colors — day and night.
Marci emerges victoriously from a cold plunge.