Wind-blown snow

I was mesmerized by this scene when I came across it.  The patterns in the snow created by the wind made for a nice foreground and begged for a vertical composition.  The morning light and clouds were the icing on the cake!

Frozen Paradise

Don't you just love winter!  I know I sure do :-)  It is my absolute favorite time to photograph Lake Superior!  The ice, snow and cold air add atmosphere to an image that simply cannot be matched other times of the year.  Yeah, it can be difficult to head out in these conditions, but the results are almost always worth it!

Winter Walk on the Superior Hiking Trail

Self-portrait of myself walking down the "lakewalk" section of the Superior Hiking Trail just north of Grand Marais, MN.  This was taken yesterday morning, one of the best (photographically speaking) winter mornings that I've ever spent on the shores of the big lake.  The lighting conditions were sublime and I came away from the morning with a lot of photos that I really like!

Hare on the run

I had a fun encounter with this little guy this morning.  I was driving down Old Highway 61 in Grand Portage after photographing the sunrise along the Lake Superior shoreline.  About mid-way through the road, this snowshoe hare hopped out from the woods and started running directly down the middle of the road away from me.  He ran down the road for at least a mile before turning back into the woods.  During this run he stopped several times on top of the snow bank on the side of the road.  Each time he stopped I thought he was going to continue into the woods, but 3 or 4 times he did this and returned to running down the middle of the road.  Finally he darted back into the trees, but only about 10 feet in and then ran parallel to the road for a few hundred feet before disappearing deeper into the forest.  

Two Below Sunrise

I just got back from spending the early morning along my favorite lake in the world... SUPERIOR!  It was a chilly morning, but it felt nice compared to the much colder temps we had earlier in the week.  Everything cooperated with this morning's shoot: the clouds, the wind, the light, the ice, the sea smoke... it was all good!  This is the first time I've photographed sunrise at this location, and I can say with absolute certainty that I will be going there again for sunrise.  It is a wonderful location to shoot the sunrise, especially this time of year.  

Fresh January Snow

Last night we had a beautiful winter snow storm that dumped 6 to 8 inches of light, fluffy snow on us.  Before I went to work this morning I took a short drive up Old Highway 61 in Grand Portage and was treated to gorgeous views of trees blanketed in fresh snow.  To top it off, there were nice clouds above the trees too!  Sure feels nice to have winter (in terms of snowfall) finally arrive!

Winter Afternoon on Mink Bay

A recent winter afternoon along the Lake Superior shoreline in Ontario.  We had really nice clouds all afternoon and the sun kept shooting rays of light down between the clouds.  I really liked the cracks in the rocks shown here, and how they draw your eye into the scene.