The weather had finally turned cold the first week into December and the open water was disappearing quickly. After many cloudy days the weather had cleared, and I finally had hopes for the evening's sunset.

I had to park off the edge of the road in the snow as my planned parking spot was occupied. As I approached the location, I discovered I wasn't alone . . . another photographer had had similar ideas about this location and had also parked in "my spot".

This image is my attempt to convey what I was feeling . . . COLD. This image is looking over the rock outcropping along the shore with the sunset light colouring the distant clouds. It is so cold this evening that there is steam rising off the open water being highlighted by the setting light! I ended up sitting in the snow to get this lower point of view . . . needless to say, I tried to work as quickly as possible ;-) I have also discovered that the camera's battery does not last very long when the temperature is below zero . . . which was fine as I also learned I do not last very long when the wind chill is lower than -10F (-23C). Little did I realize that that was a heat wave, as tonight the low will be -25F (-31.7C).

This sunset was a month ago when there was still open water . . . now it's a sheet of ice with snowmobiles traversing it from the shore to the various shelters set up for ice fishing, while others are out cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on the ice.

6 December 2017 edit: I am honored that this image was selected for inclusion in Flickr's Top-25 photos of 2017 gallery.

Tags:   sunset ice water water reflection mist freezing cold landscape Panorama Minnesota Brad Eide Nikon D7100 Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 Gitzo tripod remote release neutral density Lee filter outdoor serene beach rock December 2016 geotagged clouds blue sky pastel frost snow sky shore

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