While in Texas, we visited Padre Island National Seashore to spend some time on the beach. Every now and then, a flock of pelicans would fly by in formation. It would start as a traditional “V” shape, then they would string out and play follow the leader in a curving pattern as they flew down the beach.
Cold air above somewhat warmer water generates “sea smoke,” making it seem as though the water is steaming. Throw in some ice and a beautiful sunrise and you have a fantastic morning to be by the lake.
For the last month I have taken a break from blogging and tended to other business. I also squeezed in a week long trip to south Texas near Corpus Christi. However, during the last month, my cameras were not gathering dust.
We’ve had a very cold winter here in northern Minnesota which has allowed Lake Superior to freeze. The western end of the lake by Duluth has ice thick enough to walk on, which is being used by skaters, ice anglers and anyone wanting to take advantage of this rare opportunity to walk on the “Big Lake.”
Because the lake is never totally still, the ice sheet is always in motion to some degree. This creates cracks and fissures in the ice. During the full moon in February I ventured to the lake to view the moon rise and capture it along with a bit of abstract art created by the cracked ice.
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After a cold day on the road, it’s nice to find a warm place to rest. Spotting the motel sign advertising hot water heat sounded perfect! Sadly, the motel no longer exists and I had to move on.
This past Thursday, Feb. 3, I had to take a trip to west central Minnesota. When I left Duluth, the temp was -17F. As I traveled west, the thermometer in my car started reading even colder temps, with the lowest reading at -32F. The cold, dense air created a thermal inversion which blocked warmer air from rising. This effect was best illustrated by the smoke from wood fired boilers rising about 30-40 feet above ground and stopping as though it had hit an invisible ceiling. If you were to travel further north, you could have experienced even lower temps, some lower than -40F.
My third shot on my recent outing was of a frozen bubble. This was the most difficult image and I still need to perfect the process. Wind played a role in shortening the life of my bubbles and trying to get an image before they popped was not easy. Of the attempts, this was the best and I’m not overly excited by it, but I will continue to try.
This image uses a bit of forced perspective. To get the image I was lying on the ice and doing my best to line up the rising sun with the pieces of ice. The slabs were thin enough to glow as the sun back lit them. Fire and ice.
This was also a five shot bracket using my Canon 5D Mk4, Tamron SP 28-75mm f/2.8, ISO 50, 75mm, f/10
The temperature was around -20 when I arrived at the shore of Lake Superior this morning. Many had already headed out on to the ice to set up portable shelters for fishing. Besides myself, several photographers were waiting for the sun to break the horizon. This was the first morning of our extended cold spell that I have ventured out to do some photography. We have been mostly below zero for over a week and I have not felt inclined to endure the weather if I did not have to. However, knowing that the weather was going to be warming in a few days, I layered on the winter wear and braved the cold.
I have three shots in mind for the morning. The first was to use my lens ball, the second was an ice composition and third, a frozen bubble. The lens ball image is today’s featured image. I felt safe inverting the image due to the blurred background and I like how the ball appears to be hanging from the snow. In case you noticed the black shapes to the right of the sun, those are fishing shelters.
This is a five shot bracket from a Canon 5D Mk4, Tamron SP 28-75mm, ISO 50, 75mm, f/10, 1/1– sec.
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