The assignment lasted about eight weeks, but we did it in segments during winter, spring, and summer because I wanted a little coverage of each of those seasons. I wanted to photograph the ice because it’s such an important component of the story. It was a great feeling to sit on the edge of the helicopter and look down at the Coast Guard icebreaker as it plowed through the ice, leaving a stream of foam behind it.

I went to Beaver Island to do some aerial work during one of the worst heat spells the area had ever had. It was a horrible atmosphere: milky and murky. So much of my business is out of my control. I am completely dependent on the weather, so I watched it and hoped it would break. I was pretty stressed and worried, thinking, “Oh my God, these four days are going to be a waste.” As it happened, a front moved through and cleared everything out.

I decided to go with the Coast Guard to photograph an ice-rescue drill. They put me on the ice with the victim. The plan was to lift him up, and then they would come to get me. When the Coast Guard returned for me, they got a call that  a potential situation was developing. A ship had radioed in that there was something up ahead on the ice that was blocking the ship’s path. The Coast Guard thought it might be American protesters trying to stop a shipment of coal. So we raced up there thinking it was going to be this amazing situation, but it turned out that what the Coast Guard thought might be protesters was just an ice shack.