Fri May 13, 2011 at 19:00:00 PM EDT
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| A reminder of (much) colder days here on the lakefront
There was a bit of snow around but it didn't feel very cold, at least not by January NW Indiana standards. A few moody shots of the lake under low cloud cover seemed a great idea so I parked at a friend's house and walked the 50 yards or so to the beach at the Southern tip of Lake Michigan.
cross posted on my blog Lake Michigan - Ice in January | Minimalist Photography
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| stevej :: Photo diary - Lake Michigan With Ice |
| I had two cameras on me and some spare batteries, different lenses and other bits. I was planning on spending an hour at least by the lake, lining up the best shots, finding some high points, working out the best camera settings and all that other good stuff that photographers do.
I then walked over the small dune between the road and the beach and the wind went from a gentle breeze to a steady 25 -30mph in the space of three steps. This changed things, although the temperature was a balmy 26F the wind adjusted my phtography ambitions downwards rapidly. I went from wanting to take my time and soak in the slightly alien looking landscape to wanting to just point the cameras and keep hitting the shutter buttons and getting as many shots off before my finger seized up. I always set up my cameras so that they are ready to go meaning that I can grab them out of the bag, focus and take a photo without fiddling with menus and buttons. If I hadn't done this I doubt if I would have got any photographs at all.
These are not great quality shots and one day I will get up to the lake when conditions are better i.e. less windy and I will get to take some more considered shots. I spent precisely 5 minutes on the beach before my fingers couldn't operate the cameras and am reasonably pleased with these results. I may not have a great photograph but I do now have the feel of the beach on a bad day and that will make the next round of images much better.
The water was hitting the ridge of ice and spraying up 10 feet in the air. Unfortunately I didn't have my long zoom attached so I missed a lot of good shots but now I know that those shots are there to be had. Today I wanted to catch the bleakness of the lake in winter and the low cloud was good for that.
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