I haven’t been out shooting pictures lately because there hasn’t been much to shoot. Most of the snow melted away during our warm spell and what remains is pretty dirty. I did get out to shoot some video today though. The wind was blowing from the south-east so that meant the waves would be up. I found a nice area of ice and waves and began shooting. One of the things I really wanted to capture today was the sound of the waves and ice. It came through somewhat, but not nearly as cool as it sounds in person.
I’ve shown you guys the beautiful side of Lake Michigan. I’ve also shown you the lake when she’s mildly upset. Now I’m going to show you her nasty side. Oh my!!
After clearing our driveway and three of our nieghbor’s driveways today, Lynne and I took a drive along the lake to see what she was up to. What we found was one of the most amazing scenes of wild nature I’ve ever seen.
In the first scenes of the video you’re looking at the ice that extended hundreds of yards from the shore. This ice wasn’t there yesterday. It moved in and formed over night during the storm. The waves are going under the ice and in some cases breaking at the edge of the ice. Unfortionatly I didn’t get and shots of the waves breaking. They keep doing it off camera.
In the other scenes you’re looking at the large mounds of ice that form the ice shelf along the shore of the lake, (More on this later.). You’re seeing the waves crashing into and creating the shelf. The mounds are 10-20 feet high and made of ice. Some of the explosions of water were easily 30-40 feet high and maybe even higher.
I stood there filming and filming ’cause I was so mesmerized by it all. I think I could have stood there all day a watched. It was truly one of the most awesome scenes I’ve ever seen. This video really doesn’t do it justice.
Last Saturday we drove down to the Lakewood Forest Preserve near Waukonda IL looking for some lingering fall colors. The preserve is a very pretty place. There are a few lakes there and lots of oaks and maple trees. trails for hiking and horseback riding. All kinds of cool things to do there. And yes, we found some fall colors.
I have pictures to show you guys, but I haven’t got them ready yet.
I also shot some video at one of the preserve’s lakes. The lake is Heron Lake. On this daythere wasn’t a heron to be seen, but there were hundreds of Canada Geese. As you’ll see in the video, it was very peaceful and soothing next to the lake. The only sounds are the geese as they swim around the lake. This video is around two minutes long. I didn’t put any music on this one because the sounds of the geese are music enough.
Yesterday was a pretty windy day on Lake Michigan. So I decided to shoot some video of the crashing waves. I’ve had my video camera for about 10 months now, and though I carry it with me in my camera bag, I’ve yet to really use it. I drove to a few different places and shot what I saw there.
Then, late last night, I tackled editing what I had shot and tuned it into this short video. The music is some sample music that came with my video editing software. It was there, it seems to work with the pictures, so I used it. In the future I’d love to write my own music for my videos.
So here you go, my first attempt a being a video photographer and editor.
In the last scene of the video you hear me let out a little expletive, (Please excuse my language.) and then you hear a crash and see lots of water come flying into the frame. I then pick up the camera and get out of there. Well the expletive was for the very large wave I saw coming towards me, the crash was the wave breaking on the end of the pier, and the water was the result of the explosion that sent water flying about 20-25 feet into the air. All of this happened not more that 10 yards in front of me. That’s why I left
