The Michigan Hurricane

Had some interesting days last week here in Michigan. Several people I talked to said that the only other day that they experienced winds that strong was on November 10, 1975 — the day the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior. I had to get out a couple times and experience it myself. There was an interesting prelude to the storm as alternating "waves" of rain and wind and sunny skies passed through. The most striking moment was when a beautiful double rainbow formed as a storm passed while I was at the state park in Petoskey — late afternoon.
I decided to head down to The Charlevoix area and visited the beaches at Fisherman's Island and Norwood. Norwood was a last minute alternate as I found that the road to Fisherman's was blocked due to a power line down. At the Norwood beach I was struck by the rainbows formed in the blowing spray from the waves (see below). Eventually I was able to get into Fisherman's Island where the show was all about the the giant plumes of spray kicked up as the waves crested. The island, a natural barrier that juts out into the lake, causes the wave action to curl around it so on the north side of the island the waves approach the beach heading south — directly into the wind in this case. Just as the waves would crest the wind gust would blow the wave backward in large arcs. With the background of late autumn trees on the island it presented a wonderful place for picture making.
Hope you enjoy these images from the Michigan Hurricane.

Cold

Every year we get a few cold days in early Spring — days that are deceptively cold. Part of the problem is that we've already had a few Spring-like days where the temps hit 50+ and we run outside with just our hoodies on. Then come the days where it is bright and sunny but the air is more in tune with your down parka. I knew it would be cold out on the beach but I decided I needed to get out there and shoot.
The sky was crystal clear as I headed to Fisherman's Island — around 5 PM. The access road along Lake Michigan is a seasonal road (not plowed) so, as expected, there were remnants of drifts still crossing the blacktop. It made me a little nervous cause the last thing I wanted to do is get stuck way back at Inwood Creek. I know from previous visits that there is no cell phone coverage out there. Anyway, my desire to capture some images outweighed my fears and I wove my way around and over the stubborn ice to road's end.
The one good thing about the cold was that even though the skies were clear, the fact that you could see your breath would keep away most other visitors. Not that I don't like people, it's just that I'm easily distracted when I'm working on images. Growing as an artist means learning about yourself. I attempt to put myself with the right places at the right time to eliminate distractions, AND, even more importantly, I work at getting myself in the right frame of mind. When shooting in familiar locations I have a tendency to visualize the images that are waiting for me. Anticipation has some good points in that it helps me decide what gear to have along and strategizing saves some time when gathering images, but there is a downside. Having a plan keeps me from being open to something new that's just waiting to jump into my camera. I have learned to just slow down and walk round the area for a few minutes before pressing the shutter.
In looking over my images today I'm very pleased with what I was able to capture at Fisherman's Island. I had to endure some frozen toes (I got my feet wet) but it was worth it.