“Winter’s teeth bite deep into the shoreline and the familiar becomes alien and unknown” – Ed Lehming

I could spend hours with my recent images from the shores of Lake Ontario at Sandbanks Provincial Park. It’s a quick 20 minute drive from home and seems to offer me something new every time I go there.

I’m new to living this close to Lake Ontario (though I grew up in Scarborough but did not venture to the lake in winter) and the features created by this massive body of water. Until recently, I had never used terms like ice shelf, cryovolcano, or break-offs, yet they are all in this image. The photo also allows me more time to look deep into the structures.

For example, the cryovolcano to the center-left can now be seen in detail, and I can observe the structures that form it. Larger chunks of ice have solidified with snow to form a solid mass that makes up the main structure. To the right, you can see a larger mass of shelf ice that has a similar composition. It’s not pure ice, but rather a blend of ice and snow, frozen together to form a thick shelf.

Offshore, in a blend of thinner and newly formed ice and patches of open water, pieces of shelf ice that have broken free from shore are locked in place as the lake continues to freeze in the chilly -12 degree temperatures.

What the photo does not communicate, but is ever-present, is the deep rumble and constant clicking and popping of the ice as it shifts and settles, even with no wind to speak of. It’s ever-changing, ever-adjusting as it floats above the frigid waters below. It’s important to remember that this mass of ice could shift or break away to join its companions further offshore.

As I was making this image, another photographer ventured out on the shelf ice, a big no-no for those who understand the nature of the ice. Eventually, he ended up way out on the large structure to the right. I should also note that this image was made safely from shore, and I was some 50 meters back using my telephoto. Even close to the shore, the ice can shift and heave unexpectedly, so it’s not worth the risk for a photo. I lost track of the other photographer until later in the afternoon.

The last time I checked, Lake Ontario was 18% iced over. For perspective, the far shore in this image is some 80 kilometers distant. The lake is roughly 310 kilometers long and has an average depth of 85 meters. It’s a BIG body of water and rarely freezes over completely due to its depth, volume, and the insulating properties of the ice shelves. The last recorded freeze-over was in 1934. But there is still lots of winter left, so time will tell.

Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 116 mm
1/800 sec, f14, ISO 400