The forecast was perfect. Fog through to 7am, then mist through to 9am. It looked like the perfect day for me to head out, and try (at last) to experience landscape photography in the mist.
I had been out for many mornings and had never been fortunate enough to enjoy a morning of mist. I am not talking about a thick, pea soup-style fog either. A mere smattering of the white hazy stuff would have been ok.
I was certain that this particular morning was going to be the day.
As I left the house, the sunrise was still 60 minutes away. I drove through the dark wet streets.
The local fuel station was lit up. Its modern LED lighting not enamouring me to it. A fake version of the neon signs I now only see in books, or on television. A world gone by.
I negotiated my way around a paperboy, as he pedaled furiously on his rounds. His job for the morning was well underway. Mine, only just beginning.
My campervan trundled through the forest. I had one eye on the road looking for wandering animals. The other, trying in vain to look across the heather-strewn landscape for any sign of mist. I saw none, but I didn’t lose hope as the forest is always a dark place before sunrise.
Disappointment
15 minutes later I am pulling into a muddy, pot-hole-laden car park. There is a reason for me stopping here. It is right next to a body of water and if there is no mist or fog here, there will be none anywhere. Even other ponds of the forest may struggle.
I stepped out, my hopes were still high, but they plummeted as I approached the water, my eyes slowly getting used to the dark.
Nothing. No fog, no mist. Nothing. My morning of landscape photography, with mist, was not going well.
I turn and head back to the ‘van. My hiking shoes are feeling heavier than they were a minute or so ago. Undeterred, I decided to head to my original location anyway.
I negotiated the peaks and troughs of the car park at a snails pace. The campervan rocking as it exits, it felt like I am more on a boat, in a small storm than leaving a car park on four wheels.
Shoot Location
Half a mile or so later, I am turning into the second car park of the morning. It is not even 7am yet.
The surface of this one, is worse than the last! In the pitch black, I managed to negotiate my way into what I think was a parking space. I won’t know for sure until my morning adventures are over and I return to the car.
But, for now, they are only beginning. At this stage, the sun was still the best part of an hour from making an appearance. As I walk through the forest, I favour the wider, drier and more gravelly footpaths.
I break out into an opening and stop to look around, straining for any type of composition.
It is here I did my second video recording of the morning, the first was at the previous car park. It is only when my heavy feet stopped crunching over the gravel I realised something.
The sound of near silence. Only broken by the hum of car from the road I’d travelled on, and the beautiful sounds of the forest.
I stood motionless. Forcing my breathing to slow, to ensure the only thing filling my ears is that of the birds. The dawn chorus, or at least the start of it, I believe it is called.
I carry on my walk, heading around the man made footpaths looking for compositions. For anything that may catch my eye and make a photo.
I fear my enthusiasm and optimism I had at 6am has waned even more.
A Photo
A glance right, and I see a composition that, I decide to shoot. It is by no means perfect. In fact, I would go as far to say it is not very good at all.
Yet, I had to photograph something. Anything.
Unconvinced, I move on. The sun started to bathe the area in light. Soft light, diffused by the blanket of clouds above. I continue on my preplanned route. These landscape photography mornings are a good time to have the forest to myself, although today having some mist with me was desirable.
The path bends slightly left, then right, but always going forward. I start to encounter dog walkers giving the pooch their morning exercise.
Before long I am at an area I was hoping to photograph, being shrouded in mist.
Alas, today is not that day, so that will have to wait. What did catch my eye, was a fallen log, smothered in moss with I guess another form of moss growing from that.
I am afraid I am not versed in all the species of moss, so my layman terms will have to suffice. A photograph will explain this much better than my words ever could. So here it is.
It is at this point I give up. Accepting the fact that today is not going to be my day.
I have almost completed my full walk around the route I was planning. Disappointed with the lack of mist, but just being out, and taking photos was a definite plus.
Now back in the ‘van which, I am please to say, was parked appropriately, I bumped over the pot holes again. Easier to see now the sun was up, and every hole, ridge and bump was visible, but not really easier to avoid.
Just One More
I had one more shot I wanted to get before heading home. Half a mile to my right was a lone tree. I had driven past many times. Today, I would be stopping at it.
This tree has caught my eye on many occasions. After heavy rain, water pooled around the base. In the right conditions, with no wind, the reflections could make for a nice photograph.
I parked in a marginally smoother car park, and walked the 100 yards or so back to my subject. Flat light and minimal wind, meant the reflections were good. A polariser on the lens may have helped, but this was 100 yards behind, still in the van. Must try harder next time.
It didn’t turn out quite as good as I had hoped. The mud can be seen through the water which is not ideal. It ruins the reflection in the foreground. Today it would seem, is just not my day.
The road was directly behind me, and I needed to get higher. The option was a ladder in the middle of the road, which, wasn’t going to happen. Not today anyway.
And, roughly three hours after I had left the house, my morning mist-less landscape photography shoot was over. 3 photos. No mist but a couple of miles walked. I guess, if nothing else, I have acomplished that.
Leave a reply