Next time Jeff Morrison visits Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park, he’s got a furry little creature to thank.
The 50-year-old Oxford resident’s color photograph of a seemingly annoyed otter peering out from behind a cabin was recently selected as the Leader’s favorite in the ‘Photographs of Michigan? exhibition held at Margot’s Gallery & Frame.
Morrison and his group were having dinner June 1 at a picnic table on the shore of the Moskey Basin, part of Lake Superior, when this curious otter started peeking out at them from underneath a nearby cabin.
‘He was like, ‘What are you guys doing here??? said the 1977 OHS graduate.
Amused by the sight, Morrison went and grabbed his trusty camera.
‘I got six or seven shots before he finally went into the lake and swam away,? he said.
The otter photo was one of three Morrison entered in Margot’s exhibition, which runs through Aug. 21. The photo can be purchased at the downtown gallery for $150.
Morrison, who works as the creative director for the Oxford-based PC Treasures on Metamora Road, has been interested in photography since he was a youth.
‘I’ve been doing it since I was 12,? he said. ‘My dad bought me a Canon camera.?
But it wasn’t until he started bicycling the 14.2-mile Polly Ann Trail over the last seven or eight years that Morrison found his muse as an artist.
‘I saw so much wildlife, I started taking my camera with me,? he said. ‘That’s when I really got more into the wildlife photography.?
Morrison loves to shoot images of hawks, turkeys, deer, frogs and snakes from the wilds of northern Michigan to the 300 untouched acres of Oakwood Lake Park in Oxford Township.
He enjoys taking close-ups of animals? heads and faces, capturing their expressions in great detail.
‘It’s something that you don’t see a lot,? he explained. ‘It’s a little more unique.?
Photography definitely runs in Morrison’s blood. His father, the late Roger Morrison, was an amateur shutterbug.
In fact, 30 years ago, the Leader published a piece on Roger when he displayed some of his work at the library.
When he wasn’t snapping pictures, Roger was a teacher with the Oxford school district.
In addition to teaching at the junior high school and Daniel Axford, he established and ran the district’s adult education program.
Although he has the same love of photography as his father, it wasn’t his hobby that drew him to Isle Royale.
It was moose bones.
Since 1958, the 50-mile-long, 8-mile-wide island has been the site of the longest predator-prey study in the world as scientists study the relationship between moose and wolves.
‘We were actually there as part of that study,? Morrison said.
It’s believed the moose swam over to the island in about 1900. Today, there’s approximately 1,000 of them there.
The wolves walked over an ice bridge from Canada in about 1950. There’s presently about 24 wolves living in three packs on the island.
These wolves constitute the sole predator of the moose, which represent about 90 percent of their diet.
Morrison was with a group of six that spent eight days on the island, located in the northwest portion of Lake Superior, backpacking off-trail and looking for moose bones.
Scientists conducting the predator-prey study rely on the help of volunteers to collect moose bones, such as the skull, jaw and foot, for analysis.
‘We were actually pretty successful,? Morrison said. ‘It was a lot of fun.?