Enamored with the wild from childhood, one Canadian photographer learned to brave the extreme storm season of Lake Erie to get hold of awe-inspiring images of water in motion. The Great Lake’s waves often display a ferocity of elemental proportion.
“I love the power and fury that Mother Nature can unleash on any given day,” photographer Trevor Pottelberg, 46, told The Epoch Times. “When the conditions are just right, the lake can produce some spectacular waves. ... The winds are quite often gale force, with gusts up to 100km per hour.”
Pottelberg lives just ten minutes from his childhood home in Brownsville, Ontario—just a 40-minute drive from Lake Erie, the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes. Pottelberg said he has always been fascinated with storms and spends a great deal of time photographing scenes along the lakeshore. The endeavor requires preparation.
To shoot for hours on end, you must dress accordingly, he said. A good thermal base layer is the foundation, followed by warm clothes, a winter coat, pants, and boots. A solid winter hat, sunglasses, and heated gloves are also part of Pottelberg’s getup. “It’s not pleasant working in conditions that most people run from, but the results often outweigh the risks!” he said.
Fall is the best time to capture the giant waves on Lake Erie, Pottelberg added. Conditions can sometimes be “downright nasty” to work in. He has had frostbite twice and suffered permanent nerve damage in his hands and feet owing to the extreme cold. In November 2018, one of Pottelberg’s most fruitful Lake Erie outings yielded over 1,000 shots in less than three hours. He packed up at nightfall, by which time his hands had gone completely numb.
The photographer snaps waves using a Sony A1 camera paired with Sony 400mm f/2.8 or Sony 200-600mm lenses, plus Lightroom and Photoshop for post-production. He admits protecting himself and his gear from the cold during storm shoots is his biggest challenge. Pounding rain and snow can make it hard to hold the camera steady, so he keeps a rain cover over his equipment and sits low on a “ground chair” with a tripod to minimize wind disturbance.
Besides weather, Pottelberg has had to battle chronic health issues in his quest for incredible shots. Not many of his followers know that he’s suffered from a debilitating illness, ulcerative colitis, for 27 years, he said. He has had work around his illness, which has shaped the type of photographer he has become. Pottelberg does not travel far. He manages his health through medication and a once-a-month biologic injection.
Although Pottelberg doesn’t know what the future holds, he cherishes every day he is able to spend out in nature.
“Most of my portfolio is comprised of scenes captured within an hour or two of my home,” he said. “I usually require three hours to get my stomach under control before I can leave home for the day.”
He added, “This makes it very tough to do the ‘run and gun’ style of photography, as I cannot simply get up in the morning and go.”
Growing up near a trout stream with waterfalls that could be seen from his back deck, Pottelberg spent much time fishing and hiking the area. Every spring, he saw the migrating trout attempting to jump the waterfalls. He asked his parents for a camera for his birthday. “It was one of those small point-and-shoot Kodak film cameras with a tiny little viewfinder,” he said. “I spent hours on end posed in front of the waterfalls with the camera to my eye. As soon as a fish would make the leap attempt, I’d snap off a shot.”
The wheels on Pottelberg’s career track were set in motion. His practice evolved, but water remained a constant in his photography.
Earning two degrees at Fanshawe College in London, Pottelberg became a professional photographer in 2000, and he has seen his work published all over the globe, including in North America, Europe, and China. He was named Photographic Artist of the Year 2021 by the Professional Photographers of Canada.
Said Pottelberg, “I’ve had a lot of wonderful feedback from the public with my waves images. Many people can’t believe that the Great Lakes can produce such massive and unique waves!”
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