icicle sunrise

Main image captured handheld 12/14/10, 8:05am • Canon 5D, Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM • 40mm, f/4.0, 1/800, ISO 50 • minor adjustments made in Adobe Lightroom

On Tuesday morning, December 14, the sunrise on Lake Michigan was beautiful! You could see the yellow and pink hues from the sun illuminating the steam on the water's surface. Since it's still the beginning of our cold season, the lake water is still warmer than the air. A photo-opp waiting to happen!

Unfortunately, by the time I was awake enough, bundled up & ready with my gear out to the shore, I missed most of the colors... But it was still a pretty spectacular scene with the steam, waves and icicles. I spent nearly an hour walking around the ice-coated boulders near the water's edge and snapped over 300 photos. These kind of mornings are my "zone". I just get lost in composing images and taking in God's artwork in nature.

Here are a few of my other images from the 14th »

Two days prior, on the 12th, it was extremely windy [and COLD]. The lake waves were going crazy! They crashed much further up the shore than usual, which, when mixed with the freezing temperatures, made for a half-inch layer of ice on everything down there (dramatically helping my icicle shots!). I went out and took a short video with my iPhone on that morning you can check out: