Lake Superior Storm 001

It has been nice to have sunshine for a few days this week. We just experienced the cloudiest January on record. I appreciate blue sky when taking Lake Superior photos. Especially when onshore winds are stirring up big waves.

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Lake Superior Storm 002

For about an hour the sun was at just the right angle to generate colorful mist-bows after each wave.

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Lake Superior Storm 003

Before the sun set behind the Sawtooth Mountains I photographed this wild scene south of the Grand Marais Rec Park.

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Lake Superior Storm 004

After sunset the eastern sky turned a beautiful pink and blue. This is a 1/8th of a second exposure creating motion blur in the waves. When I got ready to leave I couldn’t collapse my tripod as ice from the spray had coated the legs. The back of my coat was covered in ice also but I didn’t mind as that is what protected my camera.

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Ice Sculptures 001

Spray had frozen on most of the brush and rocks close to shore.

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Ice Sculptures 002

Red mountain ash berries under ice.

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Ice Sculptures 003

The closest trees to the shore took on a coat of white.

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Ice Sculptures 004

Notice how small the branches are in this ice sculpture. Branches that thin could never handle the weight of all that ice if it wasn’t layered on a fraction of an inch at a time.

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Ice Sculptures 005

Another beautiful sunset.

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Sun Pillar

Right before sunrise the next morning a beautiful sun pillar appeared.

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