'Liquid Mountain Top'

(Dave Sanford)

Photographer Dave Sandford has an eye for motion. In his series "Liquid Mountains," Sandford immortalizes the brief moments of suspension as waves rise to their peak, just before crashing back into the water. Sandford took to the waters of Lake Erie to withstand the wind and storms in order to capture these amazing photos. He's given each of the images its own title, creating characters out of the waves and igniting our imaginations.

"Since I was a kid, I've loved to be on, in or around water," Sandford wrote in on Bored Panda. "I'm fascinated by thte sheer, raw power and force of it, captivated by the graceful movement of a wave and mesmerized by the light dancing across it."

Sandford, who grew up in London, Ontario, Canada, is no stranger to the Great Lakes. He said he chose to photograph Lake Erie this fall because it's the time of year when the Great Lakes are more like swelling oceans.

"The cool thing about what I do is I have no idea what conditions will be like until I’m there, and therefore no idea what I’m going to be leaving with at the end of the day," Sandford told weather.com. He says it's "always an opportunity to create something new."

(MORE: )

So for the last month, a few days each week, Sandford donned his snowboarding gear, packed up his Canon gear and drove to Lake Erie to set up shop at the north shore of the lake. He endured temperatures as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit and winds gusting upwards of 60 mph.

"These waves move and explode so quickly," Sandford told weather.com. "I have to keep an eye on where I see the water start to rise as it rips across the surface at a great speed, before that perfect moment where it builds into that mini-mountain type of moment. You have fractions of a second to release the shutter at the right time to make the perfect frame. When you throw in howling winds, water and sand flying around it makes a very challenging shoot."

Sandford makes his living doing sports photography, and his keen eye for capturing that decisive moment amidst constant action has lent itself beautifully to this series.

"Often I have to photograph in extremely cold conditions," Sandford told weather.com. "I have photographed in almost all of the outdoor NHL games since they started 12 years ago. Some of them I have had work in temperatures dipping as low as -23 Celsius (-9 degrees Fahrenheit) before the windchill which made some of the events feel closer to temperatures in the -30s (Celsius) some with massive amounts of snow falling, almost so much you couldn’t see 10 feet past you at times."

And that's not to mention equipment failures. "Batteries are drained so much more in the cold and have a shorter life," Sandford said. "I have actually had the zoom mechanism on a lens freeze on me before."

You can see more of Sandford's photography at his website, , or via social media on, and.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Strong Lake Michigan Winds Make for Dramatic Photos