Time to liven this forum up a bit! Sorry I've been so quiet the past couple of weeks. I was in California (photos to come) and been tied up with other things since I've been home.

The weather service issued high wind warnings and gale warnings for Lake Michigan today. Since the temperature was in the low 60s, I decided to pack up my camera and two year old and venture to Lake Michigan. I was only going to go to Grand Haven today, which is about 45 minutes from my home. I drove all the way down there, it was raining, and there was no wave action. Why not? Because the waters around Grand Haven were still just sludged up with enough ice to make the water too heavy to breal against the pier. DARN.

So as I contemplated if I was going to drive another hour to South Haven or go home, I took my two year old to the mall to let her play. My mom calls my cell phone. "Why don't you come to visit me today in Kalamazoo?". I tell her since I was halfway thinking about going to South Haven, I might as well make a day of it.

So I pack up my daughter, and drive to South Haven. It was worth the drive. By the time I arrived, the rain stopped, the sun began playing hide and seek in the clouds, and WAVES. Best I've seen in months!




Here is a series of three that I took from a 50 foot bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.


And the sun came out...and a HUGE wave hit, throwing spray over 75 feet in the air!


This was take on the beach.

These were all taken with my Digital Rebel, 200mm/2.8 lens plus a Canon 1.4x teleconverter, ISO 200, F8 at 1/800 second and +1/3 stop over. I have a LOT more than this, and I am also waiting on two rolls of slides that I snapped in less than 10 minutes...it's a good thing I only took two rolls with me. Otherwise my processing bill would be well over $100!

Oh yeah, and to finish my saga. My two year old slept through half of my fun and then woke up and sat patiently in the car while I was snapping photos and I rewarded her with a McDonald's Happy Meal (her favorite) and then we went to Grandma's house to play with her music box. Left Kalamazoo about 7pm and got home at 9pm.

Beautiful pictures, Jen--a/k/a Jean Guichard, Jr.?

Nice pics, Jen! It must be spring in that area. I notice there's no ice to be seen. How early does the ice melt and disappear? The ponds and lakes around here are just starting to melt.

Bob

Nice pictures, Je(a)n!

Me, Jean Guichard? Far from it, but thanks for the flattering compliments!

Bob, all the white stuff in the bottom of each of those photos is solid ice. The ice melted off the pier because of warm air and the waves washing it away. We had a thaw here this past week. Most of the snow from central Michigan south is gone. A lot of ponds and streams are still frozen, just with thinner ice than they had. My county and surrounding areas have been under flood advisories because we had over two feet of snow and it all melted in less than a week, combined with the 2 inches + of rain. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan still has almost three feet on the ground!