Winter is usually a slow photography time, but I get out when the conditions call. We’ve had a good dose of snow this year, but it primarily came over a short period. Nowhere near the amounts some areas impacted by the lake effect snow had. After last year’s mild winter and low ice coverage in the Great Lakes, this year felt a little more “normal”—if that is such a thing anymore. We got some bone-cracking cold temperatures, which helped the lakes freeze.

Lake St. Clair, known as the “heart” of the Great Lakes, hit 100% ice coverage by January 23, 2025, and the Great Lakes overall average reached a 52% peak ice cover in late February, which is typical despite starting the season very warm. Before I looked it up, it felt like I was long overdue for a winter visit to St. Clair. (It has been!) So, I did want to push myself to get my butt out there at least once for this season as the temperatures begin to rise. This time of year has a lot of grey skies and cloud-covered mornings, making for some drab landscape photography. And a 100% frozen lake isn’t as interesting to me as one with ice flows.

As typically happens in Michigan, we can go from bone-cracking cold to seasonably warm in a couple of days—and that means the ice starts to melt quickly, especially on shallow Lake St. Clair. I’ve learned my lesson in the past – wait too long, and you’ll find yourself with little ice to be found. But one morning, I had a decent forecast, and I went for it. It was good to unplug my brain from the modern world’s newsfeed and into nature’s feed for a while. It’s a well-known bit of wisdom and a tested prescription for whatever might be on your mind. I already know this, but it helps to remind me by actually doing it.

This bay of Lake St. Clair is my typical go-to spot, as it is a reasonably short drive in the morning. I’ve posted about it for years, yet it yields something a little different with each winter visit. As I started to walk along the shore, the bay was still essentially frozen. But this full tree trunk and root plate stuck in the ice immediately caught my eye, and I thought – that’s different. A frozen tree in the ice, let’s work with that. Plus, it made for a good place to sit!

As I was playing with some compositions, I noticed the sky getting brighter, and the sun would rise right in the line of sight of the tree. That locked me into that spot for a while instead of doing more exploring down the shore. It results in a lower variety of scenics, but you hope it will pay off by waiting. Perhaps a familiar landscape photographer’s dilemma!

I knew I could get a sunburst at f/22. This was also an opportunity to use my Laowa 10mm Zero-D lens, which I purchased last year. It was pretty impressive for having little to no distortion when I used it to photograph the auroras last year. It was time to test it out for some winter landscapes. It produces very nicely defined sunbursts and a distortion-free extremely wide view. It worked well for something as large as this tree with me sitting on top of it. One lesson learned is to check your lower corners, as I often found some compositions with my tripod legs in the frame. ?

Moving on towards open water

After the sun rose, I moved on from this tree to explore more along the shoreline. The light and color temperature shifted fast as the sun rose in a mostly boring cloudless sky. But the sun was illuminating all the little bits of ice along the shore like little jewels. I was also moving out of the bay area and more towards the rapidly thawing larger body of Lake St. Clair. I tried to portray it in this photo.

While I did use the Laowa 10mm for this photo, it is a little less wide because this image is cropped some. Why? I didn’t check my corners and a tripod leg ended up in the frame! <facepalm>

After making a few photos here, I heard Sandhill Cranes calling in the distance behind me. I don’t recall ever hearing them around here, so it was a pleasant surprise, bringing a smile to my ears. If you’ve never heard sandhill cranes, their calls are distinctly prehistoric and unmistakable.

I stood up and turned around to see if I could see any of them, and I couldn’t – too far away. However, looking up at a tree behind me was a Bald Eagle perched on the highest branch. I suppose it makes sense — this area that transitions to open water is probably good hunting ground for ducks and/or fish. Maybe wondering if the human sitting on the shore was stuck there or perhaps pulling up some fish. Or, the eagle was trying to tell me my tripod legs were in my photo, and the cranes were laughing about it. So many possibilities!

The trail I am on loops around a point that reaches out into Lake St. Clair. I finished the morning hike by exploring ice sheets and blocks that started to collect at the point. I’ll save those for another post. As I walked back, the eagle was still up in the tree and stayed there while I passed. I only grabbed a quick phone snap. I didn’t even feel the urge to try to photograph it at closer range.

I simply walked by and waved, satisfied with what nature’s newsfeed already provided for the morning.