Winter
Sullenly
The clouds and mist rising from Lake Michigan created a sullen scene at the Kewaunee, Wisconsin pier and lighthouse.
This was one of the last images I snapped on a very cold (below zero) morning of shooting. I’d been out there a lot longer than I would have thought – about an hour and forty-five minutes – but I found plenty to point my camera at. I was the only one braving the elements that morning. All of the footprints you see in the snow were made by me.
I had decided to call it a morning, was dismantling my equipment, folding my tripod and packing up to head home. I looked back over my shoulder and noticed the shadows from the tree and it drew me back for a few more minutes.
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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.
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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.
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The Churning
Icy Morning Mist
When air temperatures are below freezing, the slightly warmer Lake Michigan waters can create a mist around areas that haven’t frozen over. The early sun highlights the mist around the harbor and lighthouse of Algoma, WI.
Last February I posted another, very similar, view of this morning scene entitled, Frigid Sunrise Fog. This version offers more of the rocks and ice in the foreground.
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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.
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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.
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Sky Iris
It was a cold morning with 13-degrees Fahrenheit and patches of fog in our rural neighborhood. This was a scene that caught my eye that morning. I tried to sharpen the trees a bit but the fog in the air kept everything soft.
I titled it Sky Iris because the sun in the trees remind me of a pupil and the fog-induced aura, accentuated by the branches, remind me of an eye’s iris.
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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.
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