Yesterday morning was the coldest morning yet of this winter. As I was making these photographs, the outside temperature gauge on my vehicle was showing minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit. In such conditions, the water of Lake Superior is quite a bit warmer than the air directly over it, and that clash of temperatures generates an incredible amount of steam or "sea smoke", as a lot of people call it. On these mornings I love watching the steam as the sun rises. I get mesmerized by it.
I spent two hours in this spot watching the light change as I could hear trees popping in the cold down below the overlook I was sitting at. I could also hear some ravens calling from the forest below. Even on the coldest days, there is life moving around out there. At one point, I could see a large bird flying around in the steam over the islands. When I looked at the photos on my computer, I could see enough detail in the wings and shape of the bird that I could tell it was an eagle. I could only imagine what the steam would look like from the perspective of that bird as it flew around over the islands.
