Wet n Wild

Here are a few more images from my shoot yesterday down at the New Brighton seafront during storm Eunice.

The first shot shows the storm surge breaking against and over the wall of Fort Perch Rock, the walls range in height from 24 feet (7.3m) to 32 feet (9.8m)  and I think the corner in this photo is towards the higher part of that range so that gives a sense of how high the waves were, as the surge hit they got even higher and it was necessary to retreat to a safer spot.

The lighthouse is 94 feet (28.5m) and at times the waves obscured most of the building, which even allowing for perspective shows how high they were.

This last image is very similar to the one I shared yesterday, it was a little earlier in the sequence of shots, I love the curl of the wave as it retreats and is fighting against the wind. I have applied a mask to the sky to enhance the layers of cloud and help add emphasis to the foreground.

 

Beautiful Plumage

Lapwings are one of my favourite wading birds. I think they have such beautiful plumage and the feathery plume on their heads is really elegant. I used to see huge flocks of them when I lived in the Lincolnshire Fens and it was wonderful to watch them swoop and dive in formation.

I think you will agree, this is a really handsome specimen and it was fun to watch it feeding along the shore, picking its way between the ducks and other waders. I like the first image with the bird looking out across the lake, you get a really clear view of its plume which reminds me a bit of the hoods that you would use for a falcon or hawk.

Industrial Landscape

I imagine that a photograph of a grain elevator might not be such an interesting image for everyone but I rather like this shot.

Thunder Bay is on the north shore of Lake Superior and has been an important trading post for centuries as trade goods are brought from the remote parts of western Canada and then shipped across the Great Lakes and exported around the world, from fur, timber, Iron and Silver and of course grain from the great prairies.

This shot was taken from the marina and shows a view of one of the remaining grain elevators and one of the grain ships being loaded. The pontoon in the foreground is a protective barrier for the expensive boats in the lagoon and a popular perch for the seagulls that live and fish along the shore.

A Sleeping Giant

Today I have spent several hours editing and updating my new website and as much as I have enjoyed sorting through folders of photos and playing around with different layouts I am ready to put my computer to one side and take a break.

This would be a great spot to take a break, particularly on a sunny day as it was when this picture was taken. This is a view of the Sleeping Giant seen from Thunder Bay. The ship is a grain carrier coming in to the massive grain silos to collect its cargo and then sail through the great lakes and then who knows where.