On The Pegs May 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 5 | Page 115

On The Pegs Vol. 3 Issue 5 - May 2018 P 115 So these shots all took place underneath the Mackinaw Bridge, the five mile bridge that connects Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas. The bridge also separates two of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. This area is known as the straights of Mackinaw. We did our shooting on the Lake Michigan side and would walk out from the beach on the lower peninsula. (There is actually a fort on this beach, made during the fur trade) I live about 45 minutes below the bridge in a town called Petoskey, MI and was back home for spring break at the time. This year, the ice floating above the Straights had taken on a bright blue tint, and I decided to head out with my girl- friend Abbie one afternoon to get some pictures of it. While we were walking around on the ice, I spotted a guy way off in the distance flying across the ice on a skate board. As I got closer I realized he was snow skating. He would put his board down on the ice, walk to a spot about twenty yards away and then sprint at the board. After landing on the board he would launch off of the built up ice, which in some places was as high as 20 feet! This guy turned out to be Phil Smage. I had no idea who he was at the time, but I was really interested in taking some pictures of him. It’s not everyday you see someone skateboarding on Lake Michigan. We talked a little bit and got each other’s information. He had the idea of coming out on the ice with his Bike, and figured it would be the perfect spot as long as he could get his tires studded up. So the next day we decided to head out again and get a bike session in. This was about as grass roots as it gets, as the budget was legitimately zero dol- lars. We continued to shoot for the next three days, all of which seemed better than the last. We were learning as we went and just having fun being out on the ice. Phil definitely took some hard falls over the course of the week but somehow it never seemed to slow him down. The ice had turned into a playground, with new and exciting features everywhere you looked. The ice would change and shift everyday, making each shoot unique. At the end of the first week of shoot- ing I had to head back to Marquette, Michigan, where I go to school at Northern Michigan University, and Phil had to head back home with his new baby goat Allie, who he had picked up on the trip. I thought our shooting might be done, but on Monday night I got a text after class from Phil asking if I wanted to go back down to the Bridge for another shoot.