An evening and morning on Lake Michigan

I live in the beautiful state of Michigan and one of the rituals if you live here is to visit the beaches on one or more of the Great Lakes. Today (July 24, 2020) I decided to visit Meinert County Campground and park, which is located just north of Muskegon along the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.

I have visited and stayed at this modern campground once before. It’s bittersweet visiting this campground again, because the first and last time I stayed here, it was with my dearly departed wife Jenny. She passed away unexpectedly from a stroke in 2017 at the age of 45. Jenny lived a life of art…she was a professional cellist, singer/songwriter, a strings teacher, a mother of two wonderful children and a lover of life. She always enjoyed being out in nature. We both loved nature and adventure, so we visited this campground in 2016 and spent one night there. It was an absolutely beautiful evening. The weather was warm with a slight breeze coming off Lake Michigan onto the sandy beach. We sat on a slight dune during the sunset hour and took in all the beauty that a golden sunset over pristine Lake Michigan has to offer. That moment with Jenny is one of my fondest times with her.

So I decided to revisit this campground because I knew it had easy access to the beach and it did not have a lot of people on the beach as a general rule. With COVID-19 all around the world, I wanted to be outside to take photos and try to be a safe distance from people, so this was a great location to fit those needs. I pulled into to the campground late in the afternoon so I would have enough time to set up my tent, get my photo gear and drone ready to shoot some sunset photos that evening.

About an hour before sunset, I grabbed my Canon 5D photo camera with my newly purchased 24-105 mm Canon lens and my fairly new Mavic Air2 drone. I had a warm feeling revisiting the beach where I spent a wonderful evening with my wife a few years ago. I wasn’t sure how I would feel, because I miss her so much and sometimes visiting places where we shared a moment can be painful.

The beach area, weather and sunset did not disappoint. The temperature was in the high 80’s with low wind. I was able to launch my drone from the parking area to capture some unique views from above of the beach, sunset and the green trees in the area. It’s always interesting to use the drone to see views that are new to you as a photographer in the traditional sense.

That evening, I spent about an hour and a half taking photos from all kinds of vantage points along the beach and drone photos/videos in the same area. This area has it all, sandy beaches, water, slight dunes, grassy areas, amazing sunsets on the water, tree lines…a photographers dream!

After the sunset, it was time to rest in my tent so I could get up early for the sunrise over the tree line and beach the next day.

Although sunrise over Lake Michigan is beautiful, it’s hard to beat the sunset in the same area. I was able to capture some really cool drone footage and photos of the sun rising over the trees with some light mist. I spent about an hour capturing the sunrise peaking over the tree line down to the beach. There are great opportunities to capture some shadows and small patches of light falling on the grassy area at this time.

All in all, the evening and morning I spent at Meinert County Park and on the beaches of Lake Michigan were very enjoyable. It brought back warm memories of my time there with my wife Jenny. I felt her spirit while I was there in nature…she would have loved every minute there too.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please click on the button below "Click Here for More Information" to see/purchase print photos from my visit to Lake Michigan during this trip.