The power of a Lake Superior noreaster

[Steve Foss]

Winds were whipping up the waves and pushing rain at 35 mph off Lake Superior today, which made for some dramatic scenes but also made captures extremely difficult.

When I lived in Duluth, I remembered that Stoney Point always showed some impressive waves, so that's where we went.

But of course with winds that strong and everything else, it was pretty much a handheld deal.

All with the Canon 30D, Canon 17-40 f4L, 70-200 f2,8L and 400 f5.6L iso at 400 and 800, shutter speeds from 1/50 to 1/200 sec

[Steve Foss]

For some reason these are showing up quite small on my monitor, even though flickr says they are from 750 to 850 pixels across. Are they looking small to you all, too?

[Dbl]

Yep Steve, all the photos here have been resized, I posted to sirdude in the Admin area.

[Dbl]

Oh and with my magnifying glass I really like that last shot!

[jonny_redhorse]

Sweet images Steve!...That last imageof the clear wave and background ore boat is really unique!.......on a side note....I'm noticing the images are "smaller" then we posted the last hour so....oops!...now they're bigger again

[Steve Foss]

We got a site upgrade, so I'm sure there are a few bugs to work out.

Thanks guys. I like the B&W images the best myself, with the last one my fave. Sure was cool that laker was going by. Those were shot with the 400 f5.6L (the last one using Al servo focus mode so I could track the wave).

[mmeyer]

That last one is super Steve! You sure get around don't you.

[finnbay]

I like the red in the first couple of shots, but that last one is really a winner!

[Dbl]

Hey I like that last shot even more at normal sizes!!!!

[Jim Almquist]

They look great and the right size now. that last shot is a beauty.

[Ryan_V]

Wow, the gales of november!!! I love the city of Duluth, can't wait to take the family there next spring!

[DeeDee]

1 and 2 looks like the jetties down here

[yakfisher]

I like the two panos of the ore boats the best. Nice work too bad you had to deal with weather like that though. Oh well, it's not like you expected calm seas on Lake Superior in November right?

[Steve Foss]

We picked today to go because we were free and because of the wind forecast. The waves picked up even in the two hours we were there, and with them whipping all night I expect the swells to be even bigger tomorrow.

Conditions were tough, but getting even a single image that is popular and well received out of a full day's travel made it worthwhile, and of course we can deduct the mileage.

There's a lot of work I'd like to do along the shores of Lake Superior. Not typical picture postcard stuff, but other things. I'm hoping this is just the start.

Thanks for looking and commenting, everyone!

[DMN]

Great shots, I like the rock in the foreground of the first and also like the last black and white.

Great day to NOT be out on the water.

[JayinMN]

Sweet shots, a lot nicer then mine turned out. I rode up to Grand Marias.

By any chance were you at Sugarloaf Cove?

[MN Shutterbug]

Cool images. I see the beginnings of a coffee table book titled "The Power of Lake Superior".

[Steve Foss]

Thanks again, guys.

Jay, I don't know where Sugarloaf Cove is. All these images were at Stoney Point between Knife River and Duluth.

[JayinMN]

I was just curious. I stopped in there and there was a blue truck and a group of people coming up from the shore. Not a whole lot of people were out today in the rain, it was actually pretty neat to have the whole shore to yourself. Sugarloaf cove is near Schroeder.

The farther I went up the shore the less waves there were. I was hoping to get some pictures of the light house in the Grand Marias harbor with the surf breaking on the rocks. There was also a snowy owl there yesterday so that would have been a bonus too. I wasn't counting on it being there but you never know. They hardly had any waves up there compared to the rest of the shore!

I have been trying to upload pictures from my trip for the past hour and they keep timing out so I'm going to throw in the towel for now.

[MT Net]

I like your last shot. Something about it draws you into it.

[Canon Guy]

Nice series Steve! I like the wider angle on the first image.

[Steve Foss]

Thanks again, folks.

Jay, we hit the shore where Hwy. 1 connects to Hwy. 61 northeast of Silver Bay and headed toward Two Harbors, so we were in the opposite direction. We also noticed a difference in wave height. They got bigger the closer we got to Duluth.

[buzzsaw]

That last one stands out! Nice eye!

[Catmendo]

Cool stuff Steve, no pun intended! I too like the last one best!