I am thinking that a good way to help support the photographers who make Michigan in Pictures so cool is to feature their calendars & photos as potential holiday gifts. In a way, you are also supporting the protection of the beautiful places featured in these calendars by sharing that beauty with the people you love!
Neil has been a favorite photographer for a long time now for his excellent work as well as for his photography workshops like the upcoming Munising Winter Workshop that make great gifts as well! He says that you can get his 2026 Michigan Calendar while they last & is also offering 25% off all prints orders through this week with the code: HOLIDAY25 at NeilWeaverPhoto.com.
Historic Detroit shares that although there is probably no other area of Detroit has changed more often and more drastically over the years than the city center, Campus Martius, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument has endured:
Over the years, Old City Hall, the Majestic Building, the Pontchartrain Hotel, the Family Theatre, the Hammond Building and the old Detroit Opera House have all come and gone.
Only one landmark has outlived them all.
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is among Detroit’s oldest pieces of public art and was one of the first monuments to honor Civil War veterans in the United States. It was announced by Gov. Austin Blair in 1865 that money would be collected to erect a tribute to Michigan’s soldiers killed in battle. Detroit, being the largest city, won the right to the monument.
…The bronze and granite sculpture was formally unveiled on April 9, 1872, though some of its statues were not added until July 18, 1881. Among the military commanders of Civil War fame attending the ceremony were Gens. George Armstrong Custer, Ambrose Burnside, Philip Sheridan, Thomas J. Wood and John Cook. The estimates were that 25,000 visitors turned out for the event, and each of the state’s main cities was represented by a marching delegation. Detroit’s hotels could not accommodate the crowd and some people had to sleep on the floors of the halls and parlors of taverns.
The Classical Revival monument stands more than 60 feet tall and cost more than $75,000 ($1.3 million today) to build. It was sculpted by Randolph Rogers, who grew up in Ann Arbor and studied at the Academy of St. Mark in Florence, Italy, under Lorenzo Bartolini. Rogers won the commission after a public competition in 1867. He also is known for the bronze doors for the U.S. Capitol’s main entrance and created monuments like the Sailors and Soldiers in other cities.
Read on for much more at Historic Detroit, and for sure thank a veteran today and every day for stepping up to serve.
Although most of the photos that appear on Michigan in Pictures are by other photographers, I took these photos. I don’t sell my photos, but you can for sure throw me a few bucks through Patreon if you enjoy Michigan in Pictures! The top photo is from second floor the new glass pub on Campus Martius looking south down Woodward and the detail shots are from just after they cleaned the monument before the 2024 NFL Draft.
We’re going to keep our eyes on the skies today, because in addition to the waning but nearly full Super Hunter’s Moon & Taurid Meteors from yesterday, the NOAA NWS National Space Weather Prediction Center is calling for G3 level aurora activity to continue tonight, which means that Northern Lights are more likely, and they could be seen all the way to the southern state line if conditions are right! They have also launched an experimental Auroral Viewline graphic that shows where you are likely to be able to see northern lights, but to be clear, this is an inexact science AT BEST and hunting for the northern lights is very often unrewarding … unless you think being out under the stars is its own reward.
I have featured dozens of photos from John McCormick aka Michigan Nut Photography since the first pic I blogged in 2011. In all that time & even though he’s taken TONS of northern lights shots over the years, I’ve never shared one of them!! 😲 Here are a pair from John plus a couple of his night shots that I am particularly fond of. See many (many) more on his Facebook and for sure view & purchase his work at michigannutphotography.com!
Karl shared this photo the other day saying “I always ask myself… Which trip is going to cost more..? The one I take or the one I don’t take. Then I know for sure.”
Pure Michigan says that Canyon Falls aka the “Grand Canyon of the UP” is an easy to visit falls with a gorge that is quite impressive, at least by Michigan standards. A scenic trail along the Sturgeon River leads to a series of rapids and small waterfalls before you reach Canyon Falls where the river slides nearly 30′ over a large chute of smooth black rock into a box canyon.
White River Light in Whitehall was built in 1875. It is now home of a maritime museum, but as this 2012 article from Michigan History Magazine that I shared years ago relates, the light station seems to have a keeper who never retired:
When Karen McDonnell is alone she sometimes hears footsteps on the stairway of the former White River Light. But she isn’t afraid. She says, “I like the comfort it gives me. It’s like a watchman, just making sure everything is okay before it’s too late at night.”
McDonnell is the curator of an old lighthouse that has been turned into a museum. She takes care of the light and gives tours to visitors. Sometimes early in the morning or late at night she hears what sounds like somebody climbing the stairs and walking around on the upper level. She wonders if it might be the spirit of the light’s first keeper.
When the White River Light opened in the mid-1870s, William Robinson and his wife Sarah moved in. Over the years, the English couple raised their family at Whitehall. Sarah died at a young age, but William remained the lightkeeper for 47 years. When the government forced the 87-year-old keeper to retire in 1915, William’s grandson became the next lightkeeper at White River. William helped his grandson run the light, but the rules said that only the lightkeeper and his “immediate” family could live at the lighthouse. William would have to leave. But he refused, telling his grandson, “I am not going to leave this building.” He was right. The day before he had to move out, he died. His grandson buried him in a small nearby cemetery.
Besides Karen, others have heard the unexplained sounds when visiting White River. Karen once asked friends to care for the light while she was gone. She did not mention the unexplained visits. When she returned, her friends asked, “Do you have some kind of ghost walking around upstairs?” They described the same sounds Karen often heard. Although Karen has “never felt fear” when she hears the footsteps, she has never gone up stairs when she hears it. As she explains, “I feel it is a ritual and that I shouldn’t disturb it.”
Chris shared a perfect photo for a roundup of recent Detroit news saying: “Both projects broke ground in 2020. The Hudson’s site is now Detroit’s second tallest building, while the Gordie Howe Bridge is the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America. Also lit up is the Ambassador Bridge which recently reached its 100 year anniversary.” (the Ambassador is in the foreground with the string of lights).
While 98% of the $5.7 billion project is complete, bridge officials say the remaining work is forcing the delay from the previously announced fall 2025 opening … The final phase focuses heavily on testing the bridge’s technological systems.
…A report from S&P Global Ratings indicated that contractors had missed previous deadlines for transferring border facilities to authorities, though bridge officials would not specifically comment on this.
Detroit has definitely been on the come up in recent years, but it is still notable that 13 years after a poll showed two-thirds of Detroiters felt the city was moving in the wrong direction, a new survey found a dramatic, 180-degree turnaround with 76% feeling the city is headed in the right direction with 11% disagreeing & 13% having no opinion. Among that 11% is Livonia resident & leader of the Detroit News editorial page Nolan Finley, who ruffled more than a few feathers when he suggested that Detroiters are deluded to express contentment.
The Pure Michigan Fall Color Report for October 14-21, 2025 says that Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will be at or near peak color this weekend. As always, color moves slower along the water in the UP and the Lower Peninsula. In Northern Michigan they say color is at about 50%, but I am going to trust MyNorth & TV 9&10 who are saying inland areas in Northern Michigan are at peak & shoreline communities like Traverse City, Petoskey & Tawas are fast approaching optimal color (especially because the folks at Crystal Mountain who are very on the ball are reporting color at 80-100%. Southern Michigan is close to halfway in most areas, but as always, please share your observations & photos!!
Mike took these yesterday in Pleasanton, which is located slightly inland in Benzie County midway between Manistee & Frankfort so yo can see how the color is really close to peak! See more in his Fall Color MI 2025 gallery on Flickr & for sure get out there to see some of this beautiful color before it’s gone!!
Editor’s Note: the author of this blog is one of millions of Americans who feel that actions by President Trump & his Administration cross dangerous Constitutional and/or societal red lines including stopping people based on skin color, warrantless raids by masked police, “clawing back” duly appropriated Federal funds, directly threatening to turn the military on American citizens who oppose him, and refusing to seat a duly elected representative for almost a month because she will be the 218th vote to release the Epstein files. You may certainly disagree, but if you get nasty, you’re gone. No kings or tyrants in the USA, ever.
The second No Kings Day protests are scheduled across the state, nation, and even the world for this Saturday, October 18, 2025. You can check the map at NoKings.org or text #63033 for detailed information about protests near you. Also, they are asking that folks wear YELLOW because it is neither blue nor red
Dennis took these at the No Kings Day protests in Ann Arbor & Saline back in June. See more from the protests below, and more from these cities in his Ann Arbor Area gallery on Flickr.
Kevin shares that he took this when he walked along the Grand River on a Sunday morning this August & got to an open field with some great sunlit spider webs. See more in his Butterflies/Insects gallery on Flickr & follow him at Kevin Povenz Photos on Facebook!
Michigan has been awash in Northern Lights for the last several days, and this morning’s NOAA/NWS Space Weather Alert Email says there’s a good chance much of Michigan can see them tonight as well!
I encourage you to click to subscribe to that email, and also to check out our post about how to see the Northern Lights in Michigan. You will also want to join the Michigan Aurora Chasers group on Facebook where I first saw the photo above from last June at Little Girl’s Point on Lake Superior and where Aubrieta is one of the resident aurora experts. View more of her work on Facebook and on her website. She also shared the photo below yesterday. While I can’t link to it, I wanted to what she wrote as a cautionary tale to remind you to double check your gear before you are go outside in the dark!
On September 30 at 2:00 a.m., I made a once-in-a-lifetime mistake. I set out on a hike to the end of the Hunters Point Trail in Copper Harbor, hoping to shoot the Aurora over Porter’s Island. I was fried from shooting the Aurora three nights in a row, so I packed light: a small camera bag, a headlamp, a flashlight and a fanny pack. Having shot for hours, the battery in the camera and the headlamp were nearly done, but I knew I had a spare camera battery and my Fenix flashlight as backup. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that the battery in my Fenix flashlight was dead. I got exactly one shot of the scene before my camera battery died. This one. I plugged in my spare camera battery but it was dead, too. So, I headed back up the trail in near-darkness with just the stars and Aurora to light my way. Those of you who know about my life-long obsession with flashlights, will think this is a tall tale. But it’s a true story! As is the fact that all my batteries are re-charging now, including the one that operates my brain. How I love these Keweenaw nights!
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