lake effect

I tried to post something fresh everyday in the month of January. For me it was quite challenging. I was able to make photographs everyday but getting them posted same day proved to be difficult at times. We had the driest January ever. This is the third time this has happened in the past five years. Several times we had springlike temperatures only to wake up to dangerously cold winds 12 hours later. I have been on the road everyday for over the last two weeks. I feel exhausted right now, yet I am still hungry to get outside and make my own work. I would love to have a whole day to myself where I could focus on my photography and not worry about other things. I want to post something everyday in February, but the days will dictate what happens.

I saw a large amount of Common Goldeneye ducks in the shipping canal. I walked down the south pier of the canal with a long telephoto lens. The canal wall is about chest high and I was trying to be quiet so I did not disturb the birds. I did not know that there was a large group next to the wall underneath me that I could not see. When I leaned over the wall to compose a photo of the distant birds, I accidentally spooked about 60 birds that where right under me. I think that they startled me as much as I startled them. Most of them swam rapidly away but a few choose to walk on the water for a quicker escape.

I like blue shadows. They probably happen all year but I think the contrast of the white snow and the ultra low-angle of the sun makes them more noticeable. The reason I like blue shadows is that they look as cold as they feel. It feels so good to step back into the sun out of the shadows even if it is below zero.

Here is an aerial view of the Walter J. McCarthy Jr. the 1000-foot laker that hit an underwater object, flooded it’s engine room, and settled on the bottom of it’s slip in 20 feet of water. The ship has been de-ballasted and is now floating and undergoing repairs.

I thought all the ship traffic was done for the season and as we were leaving for the cities this laker was navigating the waters on this very cold morning. The vapor rising from the lake seems like it is helping keep the ship afloat.

Here is the 680-foot long John J. Boland leaving Two Harbors for the last time this shipping season. I have requests asking to see photos of the McCarthy. I did shoot photos of the ship but it is very difficult to tell that that the stern is sitting on the bottom. For those of you who have not heard, the 1000-foot Walter J. McCarthy hit an underwater object while maneuvering in to its winter berth at Hallett Dock #8 in Superior. The collision caused a leak in the stern of the vessel which flooded the engine room causing the stern to sit on the bottom of the slip. Many people outside of the Twin Ports think that this huge ship sunk in the harbor. This is not true. This ship normally draws 18 feet of water when empty and under ballast. The slip is about 20 feet deep. It is sitting on the bottom of the slip but it is only 2-3 feet deeper than normal, therefore it is difficult to tell that there is any problem by just looking at the ship sitting in the slip.

At sunset this ice pillar appeared in the west sky at Lighthouse Point. To me this means our January thaw is now over and we are headed back to the frigid temperatures that we are famous for. The thaw was nice. It gives me hope and a reminder that the warm and long days of summer are now closer than I think. In the meantime I will remember to throw on an extra layer and pull the blankets up high.