Shawn Malone, owner of Lake Superior Photo, describes the process behind North Country Dreamland as a combination of “luck and persistence.”
Malone is a veteran photographer, who focuses on shooting images of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Lake Superior Watershed.
This is her first time-lapse compilation. It’s put together with more than 10,000 photo frames and 33 northern Michigan night sky events last year.
These night skyscapes include multiple northern lights scenes, meteor showers, nebulae, planets, constellations, the Milky Way and comets. Many of them were taken over both Lake Superior and Lake …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us favorite challenging Great Lakes shots and the story behind making them. Mark Schacter sent this photo and story.

My challenge: how to capture in a single photograph a story of environmental ruin and redemption on Lake Erie? The subject was the Cuyahoga River, which rises in the northeast corner of Ohio and follows a 140 km U-shaped path before emptying into Lake Erie at Cleveland. One day in 1969 an oil slick on its surface caught fire in Cleveland. Although this was not the first time the filthy Cuyahoga had …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us their favorite Great Lakes shots. Peter Scott Eide sent us these photos of Lake Superior.
Native Feather
This image was taken using Kodak black-and-white film. It was shot in the early spring when the water levels tend to be at their lowest. This particular spring they were at historically low levels, and sections of shoreline became exposed that normally lay buried beneath the sand and water. It was late in the day and a thunderstorm with heavy rains that had been present throughout the …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us their favorite Great Lakes shots. Bryan Hansel of Bryan Hansel Photography sent us these photos.

I was on a 45-day, 800-mile kayaking expedition from Port Huron, MI to Grand Marais, MN when I heard about an upcoming storm that was predicted to blow gales for days. I was on a deadline and needed to get to Houghton to jump a ferry to Isle Royale before the storm hit, so I was paddling 30+ mile days. Before I got this photo, I had paddled …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us their favorite Great Lakes shot. Craig Blacklock of Blacklock Photography sent us this photo, also the cover image from his book Apostle Islands — From Land and Sea.

Bear Island, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
 I discovered this small arch the previous afternoon. I took the time to set up and make an image. I was ecstatic about the composition, which seemed to contain all the elements of the Apostle Islands, but was not satisfied with the light. So, I set my alarm for 4:30, …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us their toughest Great Lakes shots. Ken Scott of Ken Scott Photography sent us this photo.
South Manitou Lighthouse
Lit by a full moon, this is a stack of 350, 30-second exposures.
The hard part was getting the timing to work out so I could travel out to the island when there would be a full enough moon to light the landscape and no clouds to interfere with the shoot. It was a crap shoot and took a few trips out to get the timing the …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us their favorite and toughest Great Lakes shot. Justin Calkins – related to our very own Gary Wilson – of Justin Calkins Photography sent us these photos.

Wind Storms

This photo was shot during the week-long wind storms of October 2010 in Grand Haven, Mich.  The gusts were as high as 70 mph, with very large violent waves.

Lake Michigan Severe Storm
I took this photo in 2006 and even though it’s older I still wanted to share it. In my opinion it captures an excellent look …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us their favorite and toughest Great Lakes shot. Shawn Malone of Lake Superior Photography sent us this photo.

Northern Lights
The big reason this photo was so difficult to photograph is normally our northern lights displays are well to the north and low to the horizon. This allows for one to pre-plan compositions for this night sky photography. It’s very necessary to do this during the day since you can’t see much at night!
Well, this aurora arrived with an unexpected raging intensity, like someone flicked on a light …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us their favorite and toughest Great Lakes shot. Scott Thomas of Scott Thomas photography sent us this photo.

Star Burst Sunset
A favorite daily ritual of people who live or vacation along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario is coming down to the beach each evening to watch the sunset from spring to fall. Most nights the show is spectacular with deep colors that paint any clouds in the sky the lower the Sun gets on the horizon. I have witnessed many nights Nature was …

We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us their favorite and toughest Great Lakes shot. Tim Trombley of Great Lakes Photography sent us these pictures of his toughest shots.

North Windows
This cave was only accessible by kayak. I had to land way down the shoreline and got wet feet making my way inside. Once there, the shot required me to crouch and back into the sandstone recesses allowing sand to drop down my collar. Scrunched with wet knees, I panned the camera for three shots that were later merged into this …