Cold Lighthouses of Lake Michigan

Environmental and scenery photographer Tom Gill has been recording the natural and man made amazing things of the south eastern portion of Lake Michigan, particularly lighthouses, for several years. During wintertime season these lighthouses become hardly identifiable as amazing frozen ice structures turn them into amazing sculptural forms.

Gill’s favorite lighthouse is the 35-foot St. Joseph that was first built in 1844. The mild house would often receive a dense part of ice during winter stormy weather when freezing waves up to 6 metres high crash into the piers. The air temperature falls 20 degrees below zero.

The external mild is over 100 feet from the inner light, and there is only about a two or three feet wide direction between the lighthouse and the frigid lake. In winter, that direction is often very slippery.

Photographer Says :

“This year, many people ventured to the outer light, but not many dared go around to the windward side of the outer light. While I've seen hundreds of photos from the shore and the pier, I've only come across a couple of photographers who braved it and ventured out around the tower - me, my son Chris and another person who posted his image on Flickr”