I live in Wisconsin at the tip of an 80-mile-long peninsula that extends out into Lake Michigan. There are wonderful photographic opportunities in every season, but my favorite time is winter, and ice is a favorite subject of mine.

Ice has many forms, is very photogenic and is always interesting to me. I have photographed ice from Greenland to Antarctica, but the most productive area I have found for ice is right near my home. The main reason for this is I am always here and available whenever the ice conditions might form and are at their most photogenic. I certainly have found wonderful icy compositions when traveling, but nothing beats being already in place when these ephemeral conditions occur.

2025 has not been a great winter for photographing ice around here. Abnormally warm weather prevented ice from doing its thing and forming into the fantastic shapes and shoves that I am always looking for. But we had a sudden, brutal cold weather system move through, which got things frozen quickly.

I went to this iconic spot to see what I might find, which in the summer is full of tourists. But on this afternoon, the wind was blowing hard, and the temperature was about 10 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, so I wasn't surprised to find myself alone.

I spent a couple of hours here until it was fully dark in the warmth of my car and sent my drone out to explore from time to time. This composition was made shortly before sunset while the low sun was still bathing everything in golden light and reflecting the building in the new clear ice. I positioned my drone about 4 feet above the ice in a place where it was not possible to get to on foot but where I felt the composition was ideal.