The Leelanau Peninsula
Northern Michigan
The Leelanau Peninsula is a scenic stretch of land surrounded by the waters of Lake Michigan. Its topography is the work of the glaciers that once covered Michigan and later filled the basins of the Great Lakes with their meltwater. Leelanau is the site of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a national park that preserves the sand dunes, forests, and historical structures found all along this section of the Lake Michigan coastline. The charm of Leelanau is all wrapped up in its landscape of giant dunes, aquamarine shallows, and agricultural fields, its collection of weatherbeaten, white-washed buildings, and its rich history of sailing, shipwrecks, and even piracy. Below is a selection of photos that I took during an all-too-brief visit to the peninsula in August of 2014.
Any images that are available for sale (as wall prints, or on other products such as card, puzzles, etc.) are identified as such and linked to my portfolio at Pixels.com.
Sunrise light illuminating the sky along Leelanau's western shore.
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Visitors enjoying the view from a dune towering hundreds of feet above Lake Michigan.
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At the Dune Climb, the primary attraction at Sleeping Bear Dunes.
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The view from Empire Bluff, looking like a tropical location on this ideal day of clear skies and bright sun.
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Late afternoon at Empire Bluff.
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A final remnant of "ghost forest" overtaken by drifting sand dunes.
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Sunset behind a historic structure in the Port Oneida section of the park..
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Lake Michigan from the dunes near Empire Bluff.
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Lakeshore in the Port Oneida section of the national park.
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Historic farm buildings at dawn in the Port Oneida area.
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Visitors enjoying the view from a dune towering hundreds of feet above Lake Michigan.
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I realize that the shot above looks too surreal to be anything other than a digital fabrication, but I assure you that this is exactly what my camera captured when I zoomed in on the surface of the lake during a sunset - the alternating reflections of sun, sky and land produced the most unique surface that I've ever seen. Available at pixels.com