The nature of Mike’s work often brings him face to face with dangerous climates, but one of the ‘close calls’ he experienced has now become a favourite for both its beauty and the excitement. “One image that I definitely enjoy having printed and hung is from Bow Lake in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It was an image that I wanted to capture for quite a few years, and when I finally did, I unfortunately ended up in a pretty near-death experience. It was a bitterly cold morning, -17 degrees Fahrenheit, and two days prior, the lake was mostly open water. When we arrived at the lake, we noticed the entire thing was frozen over and crystal clear. I knew that this was a prime opportunity to search for the infamous trapped methane bubbles that I heard about happening up in this region, but being from Texas, I was skeptical of even stepping foot on the ice. After walking a few feet out on the ice, I was able to see a few deep cracks and noticed that the ice was about 4” thick where I was standing. Not knowing if this was safe, I slowly cautiously walked around looked to see if it was a consistent 4” or if it were just that one spot.”
“It was then when I noticed another photographer kneeling way out on the middle of the lake and shooting. This quickly gave me confidence that the lake was safe, so I began treading around in search of these trapped bubbles. A distance away from the shore, I found a nice patch that lined right up with the mountains. The other photographer wasn’t too far away from me, so I introduced myself and asked him if it were safe to be out there. He was local and told me that he felt it was safe, but to keep an eye on any areas that appeared only a couple inches thick and to avoid those. As I knelt down to set up my composition, I noticed about 3 inches away from me, the ice quickly thinned. Getting a bit nervous, I quickly rattled off a few frames and stood up. It was then when the ice completely cracked beneath my feet and I immediately realized how much danger I was in. I yelled to my friend on the shore about what was going on, and quickly started panicking,”
“I tried to take a step away from the thin area of the ice, but the whole sheet then spider-webbed beneath me and water starting seeping up. The other photographer who I met earlier, realized the situation and came about ten feet from me and said, “Listen to what I tell you, and do as I tell you.” I quickly agreed and he told me to kneel down, remove my backpack, and slide it to him. Then he told me to slide my tripod and camera over. Of course, now in my mind I’m thinking, “Great, I just got robbed and now I’m stuck on a frozen lake in Canada!” The gentleman then told me to crawl slowly where he pointed. I did so, and got close enough to him to where he could grab my jacket and literally hurl me to the shore. It was a pretty terrifying moment, and it could have been avoided, but…the shot I got is to this day one of my favorites.”