Holga: Lake Erie, photo by Matt Callow.
Matt took this shot of an ice-locked Lake Erie 4 years ago. A check of Great Lakes Coastwatch shows that there’s still considerable ice on Lake Erie!
You can see it bigger in his Holga slideshow.
Many more Holga camera shots – including another one from this location by Matt – on Michigan in Pictures!
A Rough and Icy Great Lake, Velvia Edition, photo by friday1970.
About this photo from Burtchville near Lakeport in the Thumb, Tim writes:
A very windy night produced large waves for Lake Huron, causing the ice shelves built up along shore to break up and float down the coast. About 50 ft out were these mushroom shaped mounds of ice, which served as a subject in this photo.
Just before I shot this, a wave splashed up and instantly froze to my camera. I had to quickly scrape/wipe the ice from the lens to capture the sun behind the clouds while it lasted. The filters threads were covered in ice, so I hand held the GND in place during the shot.
A photographer’s version of drama?
Check this out background bigtastic and see this and another shot from the day in his slideshow.
Layers of Michigan Winter, photo by nasunto.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
An analysis by Michigan Sea Grant at the University of Michigan says more than 1.5 million U.S. jobs and $62 billion in annual wages are linked directly to the Great Lakes.
The study was released Thursday. It says Michigan has 525,886 jobs connected to the Great Lakes, more than any other state. Illinois ranks second with 380,786, followed by Ohio with 178,621.
Most of the jobs are in manufacturing. Others are in tourism and recreation, shipping, agriculture and other sectors of the economy.
Jim Diana, director of Michigan Sea Grant, says the study illustrates that protecting the lakes is crucial to attracting and retaining businesses and jobs.
That’s a lot of jobs … and at an estimated $62 billion in wages, it’s a very compelling argument for Michigan to take a leadership role in protecting the Great Lakes. Here’s the news release from Sea Grant and the PDF of the Great Lakes Jobs Report.
About the photo Nina writes On the shore of Lake Michigan: Cold sand and a layer of ice. In the distance, snow, ice, whitecaps on the beautiful and temperamental lake, and a cloud-filled sky. Check it out background big and in her Lake Michigan slideshow.
Red Ridge, photo by We Are CS.
This morning I found out that my native Leelanau County is the 2nd watery-est in America. Wikipedia’s Keweenaw County entry says that Michigan’s northernmost county holds the title though:
Keweenaw County is the northernmost county in Michigan. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 5,966 square miles (15,451.9 km2), of which 541 square miles (1,401.2 km2) is land and 5,425 square miles (14,050.7 km2) (90.932%) is water. Of all counties (or county-equivalents) in the United States, Keweenaw County has the highest proportion of water area to total area.
In essence, 90.932 percent of the county consists of a significant part of Lake Superior, while only 9.068 percent is actually land. Isle Royale is its northernmost section. It is the largest county in the largest state east of the Mississippi River.
Check this out big as … well … Michigan’s biggest county and see many more in Kyle’s massive Keweenaw Peninsula slideshow!
van buren dunes beach- holga, photo by EllenJo.
Is it cruel or welcome to post photos like this in February? Please discuss below…
EllenJo writes that because her hands were wet it was hard to advance the film, so she ended up with some cool “happy accidents” like this. Check this out bigger in her blue slideshow and I hope your weekend is full of happy accidents!
More about Van Buren Dunes on Michigan in Pictures … more Holga too!
Just After Sunrise (2), photo by siskokid.
Jim writes that nothing beats the early morning light as it falls on the ice and snow of frozen Lake Superior. He took three shots (#1 and #3) from the beach at Little Girl’s Point in the far western end of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on a very cold Sunday morning in January. The day before this shot was taken some ice fishermen found out the hard way how capricious Superior’s ice can be. Sam Cook’s story begins:
For an hour and a half, Skip Wick had been trying to stay upright on a chunk of ice in Lake Superior’s 8-foot swells.
The 80-year-old ice angler, stranded on the lake Saturday after big waves undermined the ice in Saxon Harbor east of Ashland, knew his options were limited.
“As I was standing there, the ice kept breaking up,” said Wick, a retired shop teacher from Hurley, Wis. “There was a big roar, like a jet going over, and here would come a wave.”
The roar was the sound of the waves, later estimated by Ashland firefighters at 8 to 12 feet, lifting and grinding chunks of ice as far as Wick could see. The chunk he was on was about as long and wide as a car, he said.
If you read on, you will learn how they were eventually rescued with an air boat, or wind sled, called an Ice Angel. Many who challenge Superior or any of the Great Lakes in wintertime are less luck.
Check this out background big and in Jim’s massive Lake Superior slideshow.
While this might seem like the ice goes on forever, as you can see from the satellite view, it barely dents the lake! More winter wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.
Elberta Beach During the Hang Gliding Heydays, photo by jimflix!.
As a payback for yesterday’s icy cruelty, here’s a warm remembrance of summer in the 1970s.
Frankfort & Elberta on Lake Michigan was a hang gliding and soaring hotspot in the 1970s and earlier. Here’s a shot of sailplanes in the 1930s, a little Frankfort-Elberta Area Hang Gliding information and a video of present-day hang-gliding at Green Point Dunes. About this photo Jim writes:
Not a lot of beach that year (and the water was high), so there was not a lot of room to land! Then you had to hope folks would Get Out Of The Way! (And usually they did, as they were mostly hang gliding families or followers.)
Taken at the Elberta beach on Lake Michigan in the late 1970s
Check it out big as the sky and see more in his Hang gliding and hang gliders slideshow!
Chapel Rock And Roots, photo by James Marvin Phelps (mandj98).
Today I’m hoping to visit Chapel Rock in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. You can read more about it right here on Michigan in Pictures.
One thing I have to say is that this is one of the toughest subjects I’ve ever shot and that James has done a great job of capturing the awesomeness of this natural wonder of Michigan. Check it out bigger and in his Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore slideshow.
Miners Beach Falls , Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigans upper peninsula (explore # 61 Oct 14, 2010), photo by Michigan Nut.
Yesterday I had to take a little detour from the Pictured Rocks theme to acknowledge the Chevy Volt. An article in this morning’s Detroit News on my 2nd favorite film ever* about the Great Lakes had me tempted to take another detour, but since Kevin McMahon’s beautiful film Waterlife makes its way through all the Great Lakes, this gorgeous shot from Miner’s Beach in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore works perfectly. Kevin says:
“What I tell audiences who live among the Great Lakes is: This is literally your autobiography. Your drinking water all comes from the Great Lakes, and when you see the journey of your water, starting from that pristine environment up by Lake Superior and deteriorating continually until it gets to Toronto, well that’s our life story. Whatever goes into that water not only goes into us, but actually becomes a part of us.
One thing that I love about Kevin’s film that is missing from too many environmental films is that through stunning high-definition videography, he has captured the soul of the Lakes, those qualities that so many of us treasure. Waterlife group on Facebook and definitely try and see Waterlife if you can!!
John says that this little waterfall is hidden on the far east end of Miners Beach. See it background bigtacular and in his Michigan Waterfalls slideshow.
See over 800 more Pictured Rocks photos in the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr and a whole lot more Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Michigan in Pictures!
*My favorite is of course Paddle to the Sea.
Untitled, photo by JRI Photos.
Just a castaway, an island lost at sea
another lonely day, no-one here but me
~The Police
Check this out bigger in Jeremy’s slideshow and have a great weekend!
Michigan in Pictures 
