LAKE SMOKE

Milwaukee has experienced a long cold snap with temperatures not reaching 20 degrees for nearly two weeks.  Because Lake Michigan has not iced over, the water temperature is significantly higher than the air temperature.  The result is "sea smoke" or in this case "lake smoke"--a layer of fog extending several hundred feet above the surface of the lake beginning a a few miles offshore.  This is a temporary seasonal phenomenon that lasts only as long as the bitter cold continues and until the lake water freezes over or drops to very close to freezing.

The current cold snap is due to end, so I thought I had better take a shot at photographing the lake smoke while it is available.  This meant getting down to the lakefront before sunrise.  I did this once before 8-10 years ago, but I am always trying to better what I have done previously.  So Saturday morning I got down to the Lakefront south of downtown by 7:15 a.m. (sunrise was at 7:23 a.m.).  The air temperature was 3 degrees below zero, but the 10-15 mph wind brought the windchill down to the 15-20 below range.  In other words, bitter cold.

The location I chose included an old shoreline lighthouse and a U.S. Coast Guard station located at the end of a breakwater in the lake around 3/4 miles out from the shore.  Here are a few of the photos that I took as I was rapidly freezing.

First, a couple of photos of the lighthouse, which I assume is no longer in use.

These were shot after sunrise but before the sun had risen above the top of the sea smoke, creating some very attractive "warm" light.

Note in the second photo an individual standing at the base of the lighthouse tower.  There were quite a few other photographers at the location with the same idea as me.  In fact, a couple guys had the fortitude to spend perhaps 20-30 minutes standing out in the cold with their equipment, including tripods, waiting for just the right moment.  I had brought my tripod but did not have the patience or endurance to use it.  As a result, these photos have some technical deficiencies.

I also took a number of shots of the Coast Guard station on the breakwater.  I liked the following shot because it nicely highlights the lake smoke.

I spent some time playing around with the files in post processing and came up with the following image in which I tried to keep the Coast Guard station in decent focus but let the surrounding lake and fog go "soft."  This is how it came out.

John