Of Fog and Sun

Fog lifts near Dodson’s Crossroads

It doesn’t happen often, but every once in awhile, I get the opportunity to go out and photograph, unfettered by job or child or worry. Free to focus on whatever I find, I can slowly suss out themes, motifs, and pay keener attention to the subtle changes of the landscape. For a normally extroverted person, this is probably my most extreme introspection and meditation; even as I am looking outwards and recording the natural world, I am tinting it with the perspective of my inner world, coloring it with the palette of my soul.

Foggy Manor

Today was such a day, as I pursued fog and shifting clouds and changing light, until I came up with a set of photos I’m quite happy with.

Reflections

Rorschach

The previous night I’d hoped to get out and shoot some more star-filled skies, as a front had come through and pushed all the clouds away, leaving an inky blanket punctuated by a brilliant nearly full moon and pin pricks of sparkling stars. Unfortunately, by the time I’d closed up shop and driven out to a dark spot, the fog had descended fully. For every successful outing, there are often several like these, where I go to a promising spot only to find that conditions have changed, or persisted in the wrong way. This doesn’t keep me from trying, though, as it is these sort of changeable conditions that can create the best light and atmosphere.

Mist pastures

Expecting bright sunshine in the morning, I was instead greeted again by a determine fog, and so, after dropping off my son at preschool, set about making some photos in conditions we don’t see that often.

Mapleview pond

Foggy fields

Eventually, the fog burned off, revealing a brilliant blue sky with lovely puffy clouds. I was happy to have been able to photograph through the transition from fog to sun, getting glimpses of some of the changes in between.

Crabtree skies

I think this sort of meditative time is important to anyone, whether or not they are a photographer, whether or not they like nature or being outdoors. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, only that you are taking some time to rest your thinking brain and allowing yourself to feel and to absorb.

I keep going back to the Galen Rowell quote I posted earlier this week:

“You only get one sun­rise and one sun­set a day, and you only get so many days on the planet. A good pho­tog­ra­pher does the math and doesn’t waste either.”