Lacking Perspective When there is nothing in a photo to give sense of scale, it is interesting to hear people guess what is in front of them. Many times, macro shots can be mistaken for landscapes, or vice versa. Sometimes, the difference is not that drastic but still, a few-foot mound can be taken as a mountain, or the other way around. I enjoy being challenged like that by the photos of others. Yet, it is difficult for me to guess which of my photos fall into the category and which ones are actually really easy to recognize without the additional clues suggesting scale.

So as you look at this, what lies in front of you? ... Is this an aerial photo of a gigantic volcano eruption (think 100s to 1000s of feet)? Is this a small spewing thermal spring (think 10s of feet)? Is it a blowhole on an ocean coast (under 10 feet)? Or is it a blowhole on a lake shore? Or is it something else, possibly way smaller?

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Spoiler Alert!

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This is a Lake Erie Blowhole. It is still in action with the lake having all open water. On windy days, like the one depicted here, the waves push into the ice and snow formations on the shore and shoot out through the volcano further building it up when it is freezing or reducing it when it is warm. The dirty water comes from a lot of sand being mixed in. While not apparent here, the beach is actually free of snow for the most part and the blowing wind filled the air with sand like it was a sandstorm in a desert. I did not last long seeing my camera accumulate water and sand.

In my Buffalo & Western New York Gallery, you can see how these volcanoes look once the lake freezes over and they become dormant.

Have fun!