Are you looking for a summer job in the outdoors or do you know someone who is? The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is looking for new members for their 1,300 person team of summer park workers and spend the season in Michigan state parks, boating facilities, and other amazing outdoor spaces. You’ll welcome visitors, help campers, and keep our parks looking their best. With flexible scheduling, these positions are perfect for college students, teachers, retirees or anyone interested in working at Michigan state parks. Apply online today!
While you may not be able to hold three bear cubs like DNR worker in these photos, you might be able to! You’ll also be making the state better for everything that Michigan in Pictures is about, so if you do get a summer internship with the DNR and want to share a photo here every so often with a link to support you, just send me an email and we’ll work it out!
Ross took these shots of baby black bears being held during a bear den visit way back in April of 2014. See more in his awesome Wildlife gallery on Flickr and view & purchase his work at rossellet.com.
The annual UP Ski Jumping Tournament is celebrating its its 139th anniversary this year January 16-18, 2026, and aptly named “Suicide Hill”, the longtime site of the tourney, will be celebrating its 100th anniversary!
The competition is hosted by the Ishpeming Ski Club every winter on MLK Weekend at the UP Nordic Ski Complex. It lasts three days and in addition to the marquee event, the club hosts Junior National Qualifiers, a cross-country ski race, and a Target Jump event where competitors try to land as close as possible to a predetermined mark on the hill. They also have bonfires, concessions, beer tent & fireworks show.
Suicide Hill got its name when in 1926 Walter “Huns” Anderson was injured on the hill. The local newspaper reporter, Ted Butler, said “Sure it’s a good hill, but why not have a little color about it. I gave it the name a few days before it was used in 1926. Walter Anderson fell in practice a few days before the meet and was badly hurt. In the stories I sent out about him, I called it Suicide Hill and the name stuck”. “We don’t like the name ‘Suicide Hill,” James Flaa, club official protested, “because it keeps riders away. It creates the wrong impression of what troubles await them”. Actually, it’s one of the best hills in the country. Even Johanna Kolstad, the fine Norwegian woman skier, says she has only seen one better hill in the country. But the name did stick, and it has turned out to be a fine, competitive, and safe hill.
Pure Michigan shared some pics and added a reminder that the competition is just a few miles away from the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum, providing an opportunity to explore and celebrate the history of the sport while visiting the “birthplace of American skiing.”
St. James Marine Company shares that it was founded in the early 1970’s by Clyde Fogg as a hobby business and is now run by Clyde Fogg’s grandson, Matt, a graduate of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City. The company has two tugs, the Jennifer Anne Fogg and Clyde W. Fogg.
Julie shared this shot of the Clyde W. Fogg heading to Beaver Island with a fuel barge loaded with 35,000 gallons of fuel for the winter months in our Michigan in Pictures group. She captured it from the Charlevoix Bridge Cam and let me say that it’s way less frustrating watching the bridge from your computer than from your car!
Although Julie didn’t take the photo above, here are two more she did take from her Facebook. She has also shared a ton on Michigan in Pictures over the years, and I’ve linked to a few of my favorites below!
Nine years ago I featured Rephotographing Michigan, Paul Evans’s photographic exploration of the environmental and economic changes Michigan has experienced. I’m happy to report that Paul is still going strong and to share a few of his excellent yesterday & today photos.
Check out yesterday & today scenes from Bay City, Petoskey, Calumet, Lansing & Mackinac Island below and follow Rephotographing Michigan on Facebook for lots more!
Another year is in the books for the Detroit Lions, and fans are once again left watching as the top teams head to the playoffs. Will 2026 be our year? True Lions fans know the answer is: probably not, but we will damn sure be ready to believe again 😉
The Detroit Zoo shared these photos at the end of December writing “Mamma Amirah cuddled up with her trio of cubs warm your winter heart. At five weeks old, we can now determine that she has two girls and one boy. Her cubs are healthy and growing fast – gaining almost a pound each in just four days! They have also started to venture out of the den to other spaces. Amirah is being a very attentive mother and seems eager to show off her cubs to the rest of the pride. Stay tuned for more lion cub love from the Detroit Zoo.“
More from Michigan zoos (including a baby gorilla) on Michigan in Pictures and you know I’m gonna compare cougar & lion cubs…
Not gonna lie, I’m not feeling good about the “plan” for Venezuela. Also, while I actually have a degree in the geopolitics of the Caribbean basin, I don’t plan to argue the logic of starting a conflict with a Chinese ally because of “drugs” but then switching to “oil & regime change” before the fires are even out. Is Maduro a good guy? Unquestionably not. Is invading a nation of 30 million people for vague & shifting reasons a good idea? Also no.
SHIVERING Birds have much higher metabolic rates and burn more energy to stay warm than we do. Black-capped chickadees weigh less than half an ounce and can maintain a body temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit – even when the air is 0 degrees! They do this by having great insulation, being very active and remembering where they store their food. A steady supply of food is essential, because chickadees eat more than 35 percent of their weight every day! Compared to many other birds, chickadees have a large hippocampus – the part of the brain that’s responsible for spatial memory. In the fall, this part of their brain gets even bigger.
FLUFFING FEATHERS All cold-climate birds pack on body weight in the late summer and fall in anticipation of the long, cold winter, but feathers also play an important role. All birds stay warm by trapping pockets of air around their bodies. The secret to maintaining these layers of air lies in having clean, dry and flexible feathers. The cleaning process, generally known as preening, depends on the species of bird. While all birds produce a special oil from a gland near the base of their tails, some cold-tolerant birds use this oil to weatherproof their feathers. Other birds like egrets, herons and mourning doves grow special feathers that disintegrate into a powder that they use to waterproof their feathers. Regardless of what weatherproofing method they use, preening helps birds keep a water resistant top layer and a toasty warm inner layer.
ROOSTING & CUDDLING Similar to people who may cuddle for warmth, small birds like tree swallows crowd together in shrubs, vines and evergreen trees to share body heat. They can also slow down their metabolic rate to conserve energy. Cavity nesters like nuthatches, titmice and downy woodpeckers use tree cavities and nest boxes to stay warm. Cavities and boxes provide protection from the weather and help birds hide from predators. Larger birds like American crows and ring-billed gulls are also known to flock together for warmth.
Read on for ways you can help including providing high energy foods like suet, peanuts and black oil sunflower seeds & a heated water bath.
Jeff of Watermark Photography shared this photo of a snow-covered blue jay earlier this week. See more on his Facebook & see more (and purchase photos) in the Birds & Wildlife gallery on his website.
“And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall too much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it necessary, serious, and great things.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
This passage from a 1907 letter from the famed German poet Rilke to his wife Clara is often paraphrased, but even though it is kind of an awkward translation, I thought that it did a better job of conveying the enormity of possibility and urgency of making every moment and every person matter in your year to come. May 2026 bring you health, happiness, and good things that have never been.
Stephen took this photo of the Tobacco River on the Keweenaw Peninsula way back in 2013 and added his wishes for a fresh start and a Happy New Year to all. Check it out on his Flickr photo map and see more in his Geotouring gallery.
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Michigan in Pictures, and thankfully I realized that trying highlight the best of what is now 4,638 posts was a little crazy even for a dyed in wool webhead like me! Thank you all for being a part of this!! You can check out part one featuring 2005 through 2015. Now let’s get busy with the top pics for every year from 2016 through 2025!
Torch Lake is Michigan’s second largest inland lake & at 19 miles, our longest lake. In addition to being the top pic of 2017, Drew’s photo was featured in an excellent mLive profile of jaw dropping Michigan locations.
Pantheos put together an incredible list of 87 Michigan’s ‘skyscraper’ Coastal Dunes that he could verify at 100′ or more in height. He climbed a lot of them including the tallest: 526-foot Empire Bluff Dune in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
2020 was a tumultuous year in many ways, but one (actual) bright spot we could all enjoy was Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) that Shawn captured so well in this July photo.
Craig’s photo along with his information about how to see the CPKC Holiday Train when it passed through southeast Michigan was this year’s most popular photo. Even better, I know for a fact that his information along with updates shared by Montez Miller helped a ton of people see the train in 2025!
Twenty years ago this morning on December 30, 2005, I started Michigan in Pictures to share some of the great photos I was seeing on Flickr along with some of the Michigan stories & events we were putting out on Absolute Michigan*. By way of celebration, here are some highlights from the first decade with the second to follow tomorrow!
2006: Michigan Photographer Profiles
The top two posts of 2006 were also my favorite: the Michigan Photographer Profiles of Ann Arbor Huron High senior Marjorie O’Brien and Matt Callow, a British born and bred photographer with a penchant for pinhole photography & unique cameras. I had so much fun exploring the motivations and techniques of some of my favorite photographers that I am honestly wondering why I stopped 🤔
The most popular post of 2013 is also the most popular of all time: Know Your Michigan Turtles. It’s also the hub for information about Michigan’s 10 native turtle species so check it out!
2014 & 2015: Ice Cave Obsession
In the same way that I thought it was fascinatingly cool to have bridge photos as 4 of the 6 top photos in my 2025 Michigan in Pictures Year in Review, I think it’s pretty darn nifty that the top photos of 2014 & 2015 both reflected the hold that ice caves had on Michigan winter discourse. Check out Ken’s Ice Caves of Leelanau and Heather’s Ice Caves Return to Lake Michigan, and I will see you tomorrow!!
* Absolute Michigan was my Michigan supersite that was put out of business by the $10-30+ million per year behemoth that was Pure Michigan. Here’s a look courtesy the Wayback Machine of absolutemichigan.com in its prime.
Michigan in Pictures 