These posts and photographs are intended to allow visitors an opportunity to see a phenomenon that I’m fortunate enough to experience right outside my door. I can only promise that I’ll try to post at least one new photo of the Lake each day. The truth is, that every now and again it will be too miserable (or I’ll be too miserable) to take a camera out of the house – especially the digital variety. While my old, beat-up Nikon F2 is always up to the task, I’ll have to depend on my digital camera because of the immediate nature of posting an image on a daily basis.


The hard part may be in choosing just one or two images. As you will see the face of Lake Erie changes not just daily but in most cases from minute to minute. At times she is languid and sluggish from heat or cold. At times she is seemingly sound asleep. Other times she is restless, tossed by the wind or teased by the slightest breeze. Often, she is driven and furious, leaving no doubt as to her innate power. At times she will be covered so thick with moonlight you’d be certain you could walk on it. Sometimes she will be hidden altogether by snow or rain or by woolly, thick fog. I’ll try to show you that too.

This may be a journey that will speak often of weather, for the mood of the Lake is greatly influenced by this force, as are we all. While the wise pay heed to weather forecasts for the area, here, it’s often a matter of “wait and see”. On the South Coast of Canada, we experience so-called Lake Effect in a manner different from those on the leeward side of large bodies of water. We are always a bit warmer in winter and a bit cooler in summer and the heavy snows coming off Lake Huron are usually played out before they get this far. Thunder storms here will usually split off and continue to feed off the heated lands to the North or slide into a trough out over the lake. Usually.

Lake Erie is always moving, whether resting quietly or in an all-out blow. It’s January and any day now she may ice up - sometimes for a very long way out from shore. Rarely, she will freeze over completely. Even then she will be in motion. Whether playfully tossing glassy shards into high mounds along the deserted beach, or blasting wide chasms into the thick sheets that try to constrain her, she will not keep still. In the muggy, dog-days of summer, she will be a sleeping beast drawing quiet, shallow breaths that nudge the sparkling sand. The Lake never stops.

For reasons I can’t quite figure out, Lake Erie is not often the subject of my art. Perhaps she is a presence that is far too large and important to take on. She is, however my muse and my companion. I take great pleasure in sharing her with you.

To view other examples of my art visit Impala Image Works at:

http://impalaimage.blogspot.com/

Scroll down to see the images. I'd love to hear your comments about the site.

Thank You!