Pierre Williot
January 2025 - Ice Boom installation
About the Image(s)
Equipment: Olympus E-M1X, Olympus M. Zuiko 40-150mm, handheld, capture on December 18th 2024
Setup: ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/250 sec, EV 0, Single exposure
Post-processing using ON1 RAW 2025 (mild cropping and light adjustments)
Each year, an ice boom is installed in the East end of Lake Erie to prevent the ice on the surface to make its way to the Niagara River and Niagara Falls.
This is a view from the North Shores of Lake Erie during a snow storm.
7 comments posted
An interesting pic Pierre I would have liked to see a little more of the boom. Pity the lighting is a little flat but I guess that is to be expected at that time of the year. Posted: 01/04/2025 07:41:33
Hi Geoff,
These workers were starting the installation of the Boom on the Fort Erie side of Lake Erie.
I tried to convey the coldness and the snow falling.
I have a much crispier image from earlier that morning (before the snow...) - see attached. Posted: 01/04/2025 21:21:40
These workers were starting the installation of the Boom on the Fort Erie side of Lake Erie.
I tried to convey the coldness and the snow falling.
I have a much crispier image from earlier that morning (before the snow...) - see attached. Posted: 01/04/2025 21:21:40
Hi Pierre- that's an interesting process you captured which I suspect is unknown to most observers outside that area. I was certainly bewildered by the image and what was going on. I agree with Geoff that it seems a bit flat and uninteresting with the heavy fog and almost monochrome look of the picture. I wonder if there would be some way to focus more on the Boom to help tell the story? If not, perhaps you could give it a bit of dimension by making the center a bit brighter and vignetting the edges to focus on the boat? Here's my effort to do that. Posted: 01/06/2025 00:25:03
Hi Kirk,
Thanks for your comments. Every year in December an Ice Boom is deployed across the Eastern end of Lake Erie. This is the shallowest great lake and its surface normally freezes in the winter. This ice floats would cause very significant damage to several bridges across the upper Niagara River (Peace Bridge, International Bridge (railway), Rainbow Bridge and the Whirlpool bridge), and then could reach Niagara Falls where more damage would occur. This boom extend from Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada to approximately the Small Boat Harbor located in South Buffalo.
This boom is then removed in the spring when there is no more ice on the lake.
As mentioned, I took this image when it was snowing. In these conditions, one needs to use manual focus as the autofocus function is affected by the snow flakes.
This was the way it was...
Following your suggestions, I did another cropping with more emphasis on the boom (Multiple long floating boys linked by chains and anchors). In some area, there would be multiple rows of these. Posted: 01/06/2025 00:53:42
Thanks for your comments. Every year in December an Ice Boom is deployed across the Eastern end of Lake Erie. This is the shallowest great lake and its surface normally freezes in the winter. This ice floats would cause very significant damage to several bridges across the upper Niagara River (Peace Bridge, International Bridge (railway), Rainbow Bridge and the Whirlpool bridge), and then could reach Niagara Falls where more damage would occur. This boom extend from Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada to approximately the Small Boat Harbor located in South Buffalo.
This boom is then removed in the spring when there is no more ice on the lake.
As mentioned, I took this image when it was snowing. In these conditions, one needs to use manual focus as the autofocus function is affected by the snow flakes.
This was the way it was...
Following your suggestions, I did another cropping with more emphasis on the boom (Multiple long floating boys linked by chains and anchors). In some area, there would be multiple rows of these. Posted: 01/06/2025 00:53:42
Hi Pierre. I know what are you trying to show to us as viewers. A cold and gloomy atmosphere. Your updated crop, indeed, give more punch to the whole scene. Posted: 01/06/2025 22:36:31
Thanks Frans. Posted: 01/06/2025 23:02:01
I agree with Frans! Nice improvement!
Posted: 01/07/2025 01:35:11
Posted: 01/07/2025 01:35:11