Crystal Cavern

This is another image from yesterday morning's amazing time spent photographing the Lake Superior shoreline at Hollow Rock Resort in Grand Portage, MN. There were a couple of small ice caves in the area which were very beautiful but difficult to photograph because of their location and their small size. To get this image I had to crawl down along the rocks, lay on my side on the rocks and configure my tripod so it was as low to the ground as possible, then look sideways through the viewfinder to compose the image (remember, I was laying on my side to compose this image!). The distance from the ground to the top of this little ice cave was two feet at the very most. It was probably more likely about a foot and a half tall. I was only on the edge of the cave, I didn't want to risk crawling into it in case it chose that moment to collapse. The result was worth the effort!

Ice Cave at Hollow Rock

This "window" of ice is looking out on the little island known as "Hollow Rock", which has been the subject of more than a few of my previous blog entries. I feel very fortunate that I now have this image in my portfolio, since the decision to head out and shoot that morning could have easily gone the other way. We had spent 5 hours snowshoeing the previous day over some very rugged terrain, and our bodies really didn't feel like going out early in the morning and shooting again so soon after the snowshoe workout. The decision was made to head out, however, and boy am I glad that we did as several good images were made on this morning.

The sunrise over Hollow Rock was very nice, with some interesting clouds to spice things up. The real treat, though, was finding two small ice caves to photograph. This particular image is of the second ice cave that I found, and when I stuck my head into this little cave I couldn't believe the view I found with Hollow Rock visible through the hole. It was as though mother nature had tailor-made this ice formation for a curious photographer to stumble upon. There wasn't much room to work inside the cave to get this image. It required crawling into the cave head-first on my stomach then propping my elbows on the rocky ground to brace the camera for this shot. There was no room at this angle to use my tripod. I shot this hand-held with my Canon EF 17-40mm lens, shutter speed 1/60, aperture f16, ISO 200.

Superior Ice Mixer

From this evening's sunset along the Lake Superior shoreline in Grand Portage. I sacrificed warm, dry feet to get this shot :-) In order to get the angle I wanted I had to put myself in the path of the waves and as a result a couple of the larger waves washed right into this notch and the spray got my feet and legs wet almost up to my knees. By the time I was done shooting my pants were frozen stiff from the combo of water and cold air. The things us photographers do to get the images we want :-)

Below: After a blustery night, the Lake Superior shoreline near Grand Portage, MN was littered with rounded chunks of ice that had been pushed on shore by the gusts of wind and pounding waves.

Winter sun rays over the Susie Islands

I made this image on my way to work a few days ago. This view is from a highway overlook that looks down on Wauswaugoning Bay and the Susie Islands. I'm very lucky to be able to drive past this view on my way to and from work each day! It has provided for a spectacular photo opportunity more times than I can remember!

The First of February on Mt. Josephine

I spent most of today snowshoeing the Mt. Josephine ridge line, which is one of my favorite things to do in the winter. I find it more enjoyable in the winter because with no leaves on the trees, you can see the lake a lot more frequently than you can in the summer. This image shows the view from the summit of the mountain, 700 feet above Lake Superior. This is the view looking Northeast towards Canada.

After my snowshoe hike I took a drive to Grand Marais for some Sven and Ole's Pizza and was treated to this beautiful sunset over the harbor.

January Sunset, Coyote Point

Here is a shot from this evening's sunset at "Coyote Point", the name that I alone have for this location, due to the fact that on more than one occassion I have seen Coyotes roaming along the shoreline here in the winter.

Night Storm, Grand Marais Harbor

This image was made on my way home to Grand Portage, MN after spending the day in Duluth, MN. The drive back up the shore that night was magical. The clouds were really something, with the moonlight popping through breaks in the clouds every now and then. As I approached Grand Marais I could see that the clouds were going to be very interesting over the harbor, so I pulled in to the campground road and went down along the lake and found these nice ice cakes floating in the corner of the bay. The most amazing thing, however, was that big, dark, almost black cloud bank moving in off the lake. I spent about half an hour in this spot making images with various compositions and exposure settings, this one is my favorite of the bunch. Captured with my Canon 5D Mark II and EF 17-40mm lens, exposure length was 10 seconds, aperture f8, ISO 800. And yes, it was cold! The air temp wasn't too bad at 18 degrees, but the wind made it feel much, much colder. There was a fairly strong wind pushing that big cloud bank in from the lake, so the wind chill was probably below zero.