#keith french

[outofchicago]

Photographing Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Photographing Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Article and photographs by Keith French.

A world away from the concrete mountains and steel-lined Chicago River is a rolling land filled with trees, rivers and streams, deer, badger, wolverines, moose, wolf and both black and brown bear. Roughly a 6-8 hour drive north of Chicago is the upper peninsula of Michigan, the UP as many call it.

Locals say the moose came from a trade with Canada: a few…

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[outofchicago]

Photographing Shawnee National Forest in the Fall

Photographing Shawnee National Forest in the Fall

The forecast for sunrise is light showers and overcast after an evening of heavy rain. It’s fall in the Shawnee National Forest (southern Illinois) where rain totals are usually light.

During the evening planning session for the next day’s shoots, fellow photographers were thinking out loud about the feasibility of shooting in the morning.  I assured them there was no reason for a pre-dawn…

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[outofchicago]

Photographing Shawnee National Forest

Photographing Shawnee National Forest

The bright red sign at the trail head read “Caution High Cliffs Ahead”. I couldn’t wait to see what the view would be. Along the 2 mile road leading into the parking area the rock faces of the bluffs that line one side are only 20-30 feet tall. Maybe an interesting photograph if I work for it but not quite the 7 story rock formations I was hunting for. It was only 90 minutes to sunset and it…

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