Face appears in November's stormy waves of Lake Erie
Photographer Cody Evans has captured some incredible shots over the years, but few were as fantastic as this one from November 2022.
Humans are really good at seeing faces in things -- go take a look at the back of any car and your brain will arrange the lights and bumper into a grinning or frowning face. It’s a trick of the mind known as pareidolia, the tendency to create visual order out of chaos.
So, when Cody Evans, an amateur Ontario photographer was going through literally thousands of the pictures he'd shot of the waves on Lake Erie in late November, he wasn't totally surprised to find one that looked like what he described as "the face of Poseidon."
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What did surprise him however, was the reaction of the world to the shot.
"I’ve gotten people all over the place calling me, congratulating me, people I haven’t heard from in years. People in Japan messaged me, from all over the world, it's crazy," Evans said.
Courtesy: Cody Evans
According to Evans, on the day the picture was shot, it was a cold November day in Port Stanley, with temperatures hovering around -10°C and winds gusting to 60 km/h.
"It was just a normal day to begin with, but then I saw on The Weather Network that the wind was going to pick up and so I made my way down to the lakeshore like I always do on a windy day and try to get the kind of shots like I was inspired by."
Before long, Lake Erie was churning up 20 foot waves and the magic unfolded --a face was staring back, Evans said.
Courtesy: Cody Evans
Getting a famous shot isn't just luck, either. Evans shoots thousands, even tens of thousands of photos in any given weather event and then digs through them all to find that one amazing shot.
During the summer time he also shoots wildlife, motorsport photography and airshows.
Courtesy: Cody Evans
Evans has been storm chasing in the summer months as well, and one aspect of the storm definitely interests him the most.
"I love shooting lightning," said Evans. "It’s one of my favourite things to shoot."
Considering how difficult it is to get a good lightning shot, nailing multiple amazing ones shows his skills as a photographer.
Courtesy: Cody Evans
In the case of the face in the wave shot, he received plenty of attention, both good and bad.
"So many Photoshop comments, 'Oh, that's Photoshop.' I sent the original to a news agency and their chief editor went over it and said, 'no that’s legit.' So that helped, but there’s always going to be skeptical people," said Evans. "It’s one of those, one-in-a-million shots."
See more of Cody Evans' stunning photography in the video above.
