TRAVERSE CITY — His photographs appear on everything from National Geographic covers to U.S. postage stamps. One even journeys beyond the solar system on board NASA's Voyager spacecraft, as testimony about planet Earth.
When photographer Bruce Dale came to the Grand Traverse region recently for his niece's wedding, he did what he always does when he travels: make pictures.
It was the photographer's first visit to northwest Lower Michigan since he flew in one winter night to photograph a baseball bat inventor for Sports Illustrated magazine.
This time he arrived in a pickup truck with a camper. And he planned to spend a few more days in the area to take pictures for a series of lectures he'll give at an international fair this fall and to add to his collection and National Geographic achives. Instead he liked the area so much that he canceled a lecture in Washington to stay another week.
"I especially love the Leland area," Dale said by e-mail, while camping along Lake Michigan in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with his wife, Joyce. "It's great for photographs and the people I met were super friendly."
Favorite spots included the Leland River, the quaint village with its Victorian-house-turned-bank and historic Fishtown.
"You don't see very many places around that literally look like you're stepping back in time 50 years," he noted, after arriving back home in Arlington, Va.
In dog-friendly Glen Arbor, Dale said he enjoyed Cottage Books and Cherry Republic, where he sampled cherry pie and cherry muffins and enjoyed free wi-fi during coffee breaks with his retriever mix, Dusty. But he opted out of the area's most popular attraction.
"It was uncomfortably hot," he said, "so I didn't climb the (Sleeping Bear) Dunes."
He said some of his favorites images of the region include a simple white dock stretching into the clear blue waters of Crystal Lake, and a vintage Chris-Craft boat making its way up the Leland River.
"He made a U-turn and he had a Bernese Mountain dog in the front proudly standing there like he was the master of the boat," said Dale, who snapped off some shots and later managed to track down the boat owner.
In Traverse City, the photographer dropped in on a model photography workshop at the Grand Traverse Commons barns, surprising organizers Todd Church and Bevin Buchler. The monthly workshops bring local models and photographers together at various locations around the area.
"My jaw just kind of dropped down," said Church, who learned of Dale's identity when he overheard the 30-year National Geographic photographer tell the mother of one of the models that he'd had 2,000 images published in the magazine. "Then I went home and checked him out. He's done some pretty amazing stuff. If I had known who he was I would have followed him around and asked him all kinds of questions."
Dale worked exclusively for National Geographic from 1964-1994 and was twice named Magazine Photographer of the Year. His assignments in more than 75 countries varied from undersea to aerial photography and from people to complex science subjects.
One of his more memorable photos involved mounting two cameras on the tail of a jumbo jet to make spectacular views of aircraft in flight. He also worked with pulsed laser photography to help produce a hologram of an exploding crystal ball for the Geographic's 100th anniversary cover.
Now he pursues a blend of editorial and corporate and advertising photography for clients like Acura, Allstate, Caterpillar, Getty Foundation, Nikon, Shell Oil and Southwest Airlines. His book, "The American Southwest," was published by National Geographic in 1999. More recently, his innovative work with digital imaging brought him honors from the Smithsonian Institution.
While in the Grand Traverse region, Dale tested a top-secret camera to be introduced Sept. 21-26 at photokina, in Cologne, Germany, the world's leading fair for photography and imaging. He was just seconds too late to capture the ultimate "up north" shot: three kayakers juxtaposed against a blazing setting sun.
"It was spectacular," said Dale, noting that the best times to photograph are at sunrise and sunset. "The best pictures are the ones you never plan."
He said he hopes to get another chance to photograph the region's Bahamas-like lakes, its winding roads and rivers, and its "little towns that haven't been corrupted with doublewides."
"Overall, this is a great corner of our country," he said. "I'd like to come back to spend a family vacation some day."
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