Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
Another Day at Work
Apis Workers' Party
Predator
Some of Your Beeswax
Sedum Bumbler
Look of Defiance
Chicory Bee
Bumbling Bees
Garden Cafe
Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond
Pick Your Poison
Blind Side Attack
On a Mission
Honey Bee on Sedum
Covering the Cosmos
Center of the Cosmos
Three's a Crowd
Popular Spot
On A Pedestal
Big Harry Fireworks Display
To Impress the Girl
Different Perspective
Sweet Ride
Perfect Little Piggies B&W
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Festival of Flights
To the Crowd's Delight
Amish Go Round
Wondersome One
The Stars In Her Eyes
Tuesday's Child
Sleeper Hold
Considering the Next Move
Sugar and Spice
Front Porch Portrait
Caged Competitor
Early Adoration
Child In the Ligtht
Stroll Through the Weeds
Attention Grabbing
Eye Contact
On the Line
Eyes of Wonder
Rounding the Curve
Troubadours of Basin Spring Park
Down by the Creek
Sun Day
Catching Some Light
EAA Fireworks
Hear Me Roar
Ice
Weathered
The evidence of a harsh winter clings to the Algoma, Wisconsin lighthouse and pier. This is a view from Algoma’s harbor, on the western shore of Lake Michigan.
The title not only referrers to ice and snow, but to the pinkish color of the lighthouse as well. Typically, the Algoma lighthouse (or pier light) is a vibrant red. However, an inferior paint, applied a few years ago, has faded to a chalky pink. Thankfully, I’ve heard a fresh coat of paint is planned later this year.
To view more of the frozen details of this image, click on the photo and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.
Heading for Open Water
A commercial fishing boat (the Oliver H. Smith) breaks its way through the ice of the Kewaunee, Wisconsin harbor on their way to the open waters of Lake Michigan.
The ice in the harbor was thick enough to make getting out a challenge and it took quite a while for the boat to break through. It would push and crunch its way into the ice, traveling 20 or 30 feet at a time before it would be halted. Then it would back up and take another run at it…for the next 20 or 30 feet…back up and repeat until it finally got to open water. This shot shows it clear of the solid ice, heading out of the harbor. I’ve included a short video of the struggle below.
The Oliver H. Smith, is a commercial fishing boat built in 1944 at Kewaunee Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. during World War II. It was purchased in 1999 and is operated by Lafond’s Fish Market in Kewaunee.
To view a larger version with more detail, click on the image.
Frosted Branch
This is another shot from a very cold morning in Kewaunee, WI. The open waters of Lake Michigan created enough moisture that everything along the shore was coated with a light, fluffy frost. This branch is a prime example.
If you look closely, you can see some little white specks (particularly on the right side). Those are little flakes of the frost falling like snow off the branch at the slightest movement of air.
Also, you will notice the Kewaunee lighthouse in the background. If you compare this photo with my previous post, You’ll be able to see this same branch from a very different perspective. Both photos were taken the same morning using different lenses. This one was 45 minutes or so after the other.
To see more of the details in this image, click on the photo and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.
Blue Harbor Ice
This image accurately portrays the very cold conditions yesterday morning at the Kewaunee, WI harbor. The ice was slowly flowing past the channel marker, out into Lake Michigan. To get this shot, I had to walk out on the long, ice-coated pier to the lighthouse.
Rising early and enduring the cold (temperature around zero) produced some worthwhile “winter” scenes like this…with more to come. Stay tuned.
If you have a decent-sized monitor, you can view a larger version of this image by simply clicking on the photo.
The Churning
This is not my typical lighthouse photo from Algoma, WI. A spell of very cold temperatures created considerable ice along the shore and powerful Lake Michigan winds churned up a torrent of wave action with spectacular splashes.
To view a more detailed, larger version of this photo, click on it.
Winter Tangle
Wisconsin winters can be brutal…and beautiful. This ice-coated shrub is a chilling sight, but also an interesting study in contrast, light and refraction.
Refraction: the fact or phenomenon of light, radio waves, etc., being deflected in passing obliquely through the interface between one medium and another or through a medium of varying density.
To view this image in greater detail, click on it and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.
Cold Climb
As cold as it is, it only seems natural to post a photo that reflects current conditions in Wisconsin.
The pier at Algoma was coated with Lake Michigan ice. The red ladder is a safety measure, giving anyone who were to fall off the pier, into the water, a way to climb out. The water of the harbor wasn’t visible, due to the ice buildup.
To see more of the cold detail, click on the image and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.
Winter’s Fangs
To me, this image portrays the beauty, and often harsh, reality of Wisconsin winters. I found these icicles hanging off the roof of our front porch. As you can see from the out of focus icicles in the background, they weren’t the longest specimens that day.
To view more of the detail in a larger version of this photo, click on it.
Blue Ice
I find the detail in this icicle interesting. It’s made a bit more appealing by the light of a setting sun in the background.
These icicles were hanging off the front porch of our home in rural Wisconsin.
See even more detail by clicking on the image.
Solitude on Ice
The morning was cold. The sun was rising…and so was a mist from the patches of open water near the lighthouse that stands at the Alogma, Wisconsin harbor.
I posted a color image from this same morning a week ago – Frigid Sunrise Fog.
Click on the image to see a larger version.