Ice Locked Harbor

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Ice Locked Harbor
Michigan City Lighthouse

Winter has locked-in the Michigan City Harbor with ice as far as the eye can see. The piers and lighthouse can still be seen over the 15 foot tall piles of ice stacked by the waves of Lake Michigan.

What a Difference a Day Makes

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Lake Michigan Overlook
Lake Michigan, Saturday

Visited Mt. Baldy on Saturday, to see the dunes and Lake Michigan in the winter. The snow was a bit more intense in Michigan City along the lakeshore, so instead of about 6 inches, there was at least of foot of snow on the ground and it was still falling steady. As we arrived, two park rangers informed us that they were going to close the park shortly, so we were only able to walk to the lake and back before we had to leave.

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What a Difference a Day Makes
Lake Michigan, Sunday
We decided to drive out on Sunday as well. The snow stopped and the skies were a bit more pleasant, allowing us to get to the lake and continue on for about a mile or so along the frozen beach. It was well worth the effort of walking through the high drifts - the lake was full of shelf ice, and flow ice. Chris and I were the only two people for miles around, when we stopped we'd listen for noise and only hear the ice bumping into the shore - a very odd sound for the dunes.

Getting Up Close

Macro photography is a world apart from landscape or portrait photography. So many things are different when getting close up. Getting an entire subject in focus is sometimes impossible due to the shallow depth of field and magnification.

Using some techniques I've tried in the past, I decided to get up close to some familiar objects to see how the camera would capture them. These photos were not cropped or magnified artificially.

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Tiny Shell and Penny
A tiny seashell on top of a penny.
The blob on the tip of the seashell is a minute grain of sand that I could not even see until I looked at the photo. To give you an idea of how close this is, the shell is about as long as a penny.


This piece of coral was taken with a normal 18-55 mm lens. The penny is for size reference.
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Coral and Penny

By attaching a reverse ring to the camera, I was able to install the same lens backwards. It's a bit cumbersome since all of the controls for aperture and focus are in the camera and do not function when set up this way, but with a copy stand, lots of light and a little finesse it works.

Here I used the widest mode of the lens (installed backwards) to pull out some detail in the coral. Note the penny for size.

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Coral Macro (lowest)


Getting a bit closer still, much more detail can be seen.

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Coral Macro (medium)


Finally, as close as I could get with the set up I had. The coral polyp, or round feature in the coral, is 2mm in diameter, so being able to fill up the frame with something that small isn't too bad!
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Getting Up Close --

High Surf

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Waves in Channel
Waves in Channel
South Haven, Michigan


The winds created 6 to 10 foot waves along the shore of South Haven, Michigan last week, driving the waves into the Black River, seen in the photo above between the lighthouse pier and the north beacon pier. Ice on the river was broken up and pushed inland until the waves subsided.

Many waves washed over the top of the pier- which is quite high off of the water's surface in calm weather. Now we can see why they have catwalks leading to the lighthouses on the Great Lakes.

Cold Steel

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Iced Catwalk
Lighthouse Catwalk
St. Joseph, Michigan

And so it begins..........

In Between Shots

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Giant's Bath, Small Boys
Chris and Mike at Giant's Bath Falls

After shooting for about an hour, Chris and Mike rested along the canyon wall, next to the falls into Giant's Bath at Matthiessen State Park. Chris was learning the manual features of his camera and very quickly got great results of Lake Falls. He also brought a tripod with him so his long exposure shots were clear.

In the photo above, they stayed still for the entire 10 second exposure! That's a miracle in itself...

Lake Falls - Matthiessen State Park

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Lake Falls
Lake Falls

Lake Falls is a 45 foot tall waterfall at the beginning of the upper dells area of Matthiessen State Park. The canyon is approximately a mile long and in this area is about 50 - 75 feet across, so it's very difficult to capture the entire scene with one 18mm lens, so this image is a combination of three separate, portrait oriented images stitched together.

Lake Falls is great in every season, but I'll be back soon when it's covered in ice.

Wind Point Lighthouse - Winter

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Wind Point Lighthouse in December
Wind Point Lighthouse

Wind Point Lighthouse is a very well preserved light that is still used as a beacon today. The historic keepers quarters is now the town hall and police department offices, and the grounds are well maintained and open year-round.

The 108 foot tall tower has a third order Fresnel lens, and was built in 1880.

Wind Point

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Icy Point
Wind Point, Wisconsin

A beautiful day for a trip to Wind Point, Wisconsin to see Lake Michigan and the Wind Point Lighthouse. The temperatures were in the 30's, and the sun was shining, so it was a pleasant walk along the frozen beach. Ever mindful of shelf ice, we didn't venture off of the sand and rocks.

High Winds

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St. Joseph Lights
High Winds at St. Joseph, Michigan

High winds send waves crashing into the lighthouse at St. Joseph, Michigan.

South Haven

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South Haven Splash!
High Winds at South Haven

High winds, water and a lighthouse -- a perfect combination. 45 mph winds churned up Lake Michigan last Sunday making for some dramatic splashes along the lighthouse and pier in South Haven, Michigan. The 35 foot tall tower was dwarfed by splashes reaching 50 feet in height.

In a few more days, this lighthouse should be covered in ice.

I'll head back.

Icing Up

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St. Joseph Outer Light
Outer Light
St. Joseph, Michigan


The waves and spray are beginning the process of icing up the lighthouse and pier marking the entrance to the St. Joseph River at Lake Michigan. The 45 MPH winds created waves at least 10 feet high, and splashes up to 50 feet high.

Even though the ice thawed from the lighthouse over the weekend, there was still plenty of shelf ice along the shore. This photographer wandered right out onto the ice to get some photos:
Dangerous 1

Here's why this is dangerous:
Dangerous 2

He's standing on about 25 feet of ice (who knows how much is below the surface), but it's full of air pockets and could be paper thin anywhere. He was very lucky - I'll bet he thought he was on the shore. Shelf ice is deadly, and should be avoided at all cost.

Winter Along Lake Michigan

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Lake Michigan Fury
St. Joseph, Michigan Lighthouse

Waves crash over the rail of the St. Joseph, Michigan Lighthouse pier. Driven by winds in excess of 45 MPH, and 30 degree air temperatures, the water quickly froze on every surface it touched. I've seen this lighthouse covered with much, much more ice, but since the thaw a couple of days ago, the process needs to start over again.

I got drenched by another wave just after this photo was taken. I managed to keep the camera pretty dry, but I can't say the same for me. I was as wet as if I jumped into the lake up to my waist - and let me tell you Lake Michigan is cold this time of year. Needless to say, it was a long, wet drive home.

Cold

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Freezing River
A Cold December Morning on the River

A hike on a minus 2 degree morning along the Kankakee River yielded a bit more than cold hands. The mist from the warmer river created hoarfrost along the banks, turning the landscape into a winter wonderland. Couple that with the ice storm two days earlier, and the hike got much more interesting.

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Cold River

The Ice Storm

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Iced Branches
Iced Branches

The storm just before Christmas this year layered everything with about 3/4 inch of ice - more in some places. While dangerous and difficult to navigate, it made some beautiful scenery once the sun returned.

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Dripping Crabapples
Dripping Crabapples

I love how the color from the tiny crabapples has gone into the icicles hanging below.

Ice Along Rock Creek

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Steamy Winter Morning
Ice on Rock Creek

Minus 2 degree temperatures and sunlight made for some interesting hiking along Rock Creek inside the Kankakee State Park near bourbonnais, IL. The roads were closed inside the park, so I was asked to leave by the park employees, but they allowed me to walk back after I parked the car elsewhere.

Nutcrackers

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Finished Red Nutcracker
Bell Ringer Nutcracker

green nutcracker
Green Nutcracker

After years of talking about it, I finally decided to make some nutcrackers.

They started out as oak 4x4s , so I turned them on my lathe. Each is different, but the bodies and heads are a very similar shape.
Turning the Nutcracker

After turning them, I needed to make the notch for the lever and mouth, so I had to cut the head portion off to access the top of the body.
Separating the Head

No easy task to get that even, and it was really difficult to get the notch straight.
Drilling to notch nutcracker

Panoramic View

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View from Indiana Dunes
Panoramic View of Indiana Dunes

The weather was so warm on Sunday, that we decided to stop at the dunes along Lake Michigan on our way to a Christmas party in Indiana. It's a rare treat to walk comfortably along the lake in December, so we enjoyed every minute of it!

This image is stitched together from 5 separate images. Next time, I'll do a full 360!

Washington Park Festival of Lights

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Michigan City Festival of Lights

Each year, over 100,000 Christmas lights adorn Michigan City's Washington Park. A slow drive through the park on a windy, winter evening is just the thing to get you into the holiday spirit- even if it took 1 1/2 hours to get to the park.

Elf with Gift Cannon

Even the old, historic lighthouse was decorated for Christmas.

Old Michigan City Lighthouse

And the current lighthouse is depicted in the show as well:
Lighthouse

Marshall Field Christmas

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Walnut Root Christmas Tree Panoramic
Walnut Room Christmas Tree

Christmas wouldn't be the same without a trip to Marshall Field's on State Street. I know, it's Macy's now, but I figure that's only the merchandise, the building is still Field's.

I love sharing with my kids, the anticipation of walking into the Walnut Room to see the tree each year. It's always a surprise to see how it's decorated from year to year. The view from the 8th floor is great too (see the panoramic photo above- it's 3 shots stitched together).

Even the lower levels of the building are decorated in grand fashion. It's nice to see Macy's kept these traditions going.

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Tiffany Ceiling
The Tiffany Ceiling

The famous Tiffany Ceiling seen above in this three shot panoramic photo, serves as a great back drop to the long, decorated garland that greets customers.

I hope these things are still around when my children visit with their own kids.