Foggy day

Just before Christmas, we had a few foggy mornings in our area and I started wondering if I could find any good photographs in local woods. Sadly, by the time we had finished doing the animals, it had mostly burnt off. Then, one day, the fog appeared to be more dense and yet, as we were finishing the field shelter, my husband commented that it was already lifting. By the time I had gone indoors, changed and grabbed my camera gear, I didn’t hold out much hope. However, just half a mile up the lane and it was really thick. By the time I reached the main road it became obvious this could linger all day.

Sadly, the woods I had in mind were a twenty-minute drive away and by the time I arrived in the car park, it had already cleared. Doing a quick U-turn, I headed back, my mind racing as to possible locations closer to home. I decided on two – woods just ten minutes from home and our local park. I had so much fun exploring the woods and within minutes had captured the image featured above. Woodland photography is hard though and so many shots are unsuitable because of the jumble of broken branches scattered everywhere. I found some lovely bright green moss at the base of some trees, but once again, wasn’t able to find a decent composition.

Turning sharp left and heading back to my car, I decided to leave the footpath and explore the woodland floor. I had already noticed the occasional leaf turned upside down and covered in water droplets. In the right light, these stood out against the darker leaves and I found a suitable candidate almost immediately. Setting up the tripod with my camera facing the ground, it took an exposure of nearly half a second at f/18. I felt I needed as much depth of field as possible to get every drop acceptably sharp.

By that time, the cold was beginning to get to me – I had been outside for many hours at a temperature of just 3C. I decided to head home, but just for a comfort break and to grab a drink. Ten minutes later and I was heading off to our local park, where I found the image below.

Tomorrow, they are once again forecasting dense fog and I have a new location in mind. I rather like this weather.