The idea of laying down on ice for an hour when it’s 0 degrees (that’s -18C) never struck me as a peaceful one. But that’s exactly how this morning felt to me. The air was completely still. Lake Superior was glassy smooth and barely moving. I could see and hear a few bits of ice stirring, but that was the only sound.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that I was wearing long underwear, snow pants, 4 shirts, a thick jacket, neck gator, hat, double-layer gloves, and had some disposable heat packs in my boots. I didn’t feel cold, not one bit.

The way the calm water had created a glassy coating of ice over the smooth rocks was incredible. There was just this one little patch, but it was amazing. So I laid down, got my camera as close to the rocks as possible, and started focus stacking (taking multiple shots at different focusing distances to blend together for a perfectly sharp image from front to back).