Got a foggy mind? Embrace a walk amongst the fog.

Life is busy!!! There is always something going on. If not, then you're prepping for the next thing, event, activity, trip, holiday or whatever else life wants to throw at you. Its easy to get lost in the fog between all of life's bullet points and not take in the moment. So embrace the fog. Its so easy to pay attention to the next bullet point in life and not enjoy the moment.

I get it, your stuck in traffic and your running late getting to work or home. You have been cut off one to many times and you start unleash your inner Samuel Jackson. But maybe just maybe its an opportunity to turn on your favorite song you listened to in high school and jam out like no one is watching. Or make that phone call to catch up with someone you haven't talked to in a while.

For me, I took an opportunity to just go for a walk in the woods during an autumn morning and as usual I grabbed my camera and decided to reflect, embrace, and capture something. I had a few thoughts in my head of what I was expecting out of a photo in a foggy scene. Much to my surprise, nothing came out the way I had envisioned. Even when I chimped and thought I captured my vision.

The idea sparked on a Monday morning. This particular morning I had to leave home before 5:30 to be at a job site south of Cleveland near the Cuyahoga Valley. After I got off the turnpike and I had to drive through some small towns in the Cuyahoga Valley shortly after sunrise. I was in awe driving along and seeing these open deep green fields blanketed with a light fog beneath the autumn colors of the trees on the surrounding hills. I only had a few mins to spare to make it to the job site I was heading to. If I had an extra 15 or 20 minutes I would have stopped and snapped a few quick photos on my camera which happened to be conveniently still in my backseat from the previous weekends trip. As I was driving I was able to spot a handful of quick compositions as a traveled along. Imagined if I could have stopped and really embraced that moment and opportunity. I think i could have closed my eyes, pointed the camera, let it focus, then opened the shutter and the phone was still have been amazing.

An idea that really ignited the following Saturday. I woke up and could not see 2 doors down. The first think that came to mind was that autumn fog in Cuyahoga Valley. But..... if you dont know, Southeast Michigan has a very impressively flat landscape. Which means if your photographing a subject you are shooting from within the fog, at a subject that is also in the fog, through and area between that is full of fog. In the valley I was able to look down into a field from above the fog and see the green field dip down to the level where the fog was then rise back up out of the fog to the autumn crowned trees. The contrast really creates a story of the hills. My first thought was to go for a walk at near by marsh along the Detroit River.

On Saturday taking care of family and catching up on fall chores were a priority. But in the back of my head I was trying to envision how could the lack of contrast in a haze create a compelling photo. I was seeing visions of silhouettes of bare trees through the fog creating an eerie simplistic contrast. Another vision I had was capturing a dead fallen tree or log half submerged in calm flat water with a symmetric reflection with all other distracting elements being "fogged" out by fog.

Then Sunday morning arrived with the same fog. My wife mentioned to me she was going to take the kids to Sunday school and I could finish up some stuff around the house getting ready winter. I said that sounds like a good idea but i plan to go for a quick photo walk in the fog and then go pick up some stuff at the hardware store and finish around the house after the fog clears. So after the kids are loaded to go to Sunday school I get my camera bag and head out to marsh.

Now here is the predicament I run into every photo walk where I walk a trail. I love capturing 2 types of photos. Wildlife or landscapes. So what that means is I either want to have my 150-600mm on to capture a deer, eagle, or any type of animal that may walk by or I want to have a sharp wider 24-75mm to capture an intriguing landscape. Generally my thought is to have the giant zoom lens on to capture any fleeting wildlife and if I spot a scene I want to capture ill swap. Well so I think I will. Usually my frame of mind changes and I become wildlife focused and miss the scenic shots.

I decided to split the divide and use a lens that is a good all around vacation lens. My 18-250mm is a great walking lens. The images come out a little soft but when your shooting in fog, through fog, and at fog a little softness is not gonna be noticable.

So, from my truck in the parking lot, I walk to along the trail keeping my eye open for any type of movement in the woods that I can see toward the inlet of a small bay like area. Along the way I happen to notice a bench up head along a slight curvature in the trail. I love a composite with a curve in the a road or trail. It works out well when at the apex or what ever is curving there is some point of interest. I really don't know what rule of composition this follows. There is usually multiple rules at play. The trail or roadway offers a natural set of leading lines, I typical will put the point of interest on the apex of the trail on a rule of third. Which also creates kind of a golden spiral.

After passing the bench I reached the inlet of a small bay along the Detroit river. Here I tried a few things. The first thing that captured my eye was a dead tree trunk on a small island in the middle of the bay. The second thing I noticed was a the water levels were extremely low and that there was no movement on the water. It looked like a mirror. I positioned a composition roughly centering the tree trunk vertically in the photo and where the base of tree where water normally meets land. Normally this would have created a very symmetric photo up and down but this created a break in the symmetry.

After leaving the entrance of the bay I took a trail around the bay to the opposite side where there is a more mature forest. Keeping my eyes open for anything that captures my interest. I crossed a guy walking his dog on the trail and we talked for a few mins. He informed me there was some dead fallen trees up ahead that looked really neat reflecting in the water through the fog. He also pointed out a few trees along the trail where he has seen some Eagles perched multiple times. I took note and headed on my way. I knew I only had some much time before the sun would start to burn through the fog and then the light would be way to hard for an type of landscape shots.

I reached the area where the dead fallen trees and experimented with a few different shots and compositions. Chimping on my camera and taking a look at what I had captured I thought I had a few options that might come out to some pretty epic shots. What I discovered when I pulled the images in Lightroom was that since I was shooting into the sun there was just way too much contrast and I really need to capture multiple exposures of of each composition.

So it was time to start heading back toward my truck. I decided since the fog was starting to burn away to switch modes and put on my 150-600 mm lens and keep an eye out for the eagles the gentleman I spoke to earlier had mentioned or any deer that may be around.

As I was walking along, I noticed a set of eyes looking at me approximately 10 yards ahead of me. I stopped in my tracks and made out the silhouette of a deer browsing on some shrubs along the trail. I pulled up my camera and snapped a couple of shots has she was dead eyed on me but never appeared scared or threatened. Not a stomp, blow, or white flag. When I reviewed my initial pictures of this deer I recognized she was slightly out of focus. This was due to here being SO close to me and out of the focus range of this giant telephoto lens.

She eventually stepped back a few steps and behind a thicket. I knelt down to get a better view of her face and she started to walk toward me like how a dog would come to its owner. I have never seen a deer do that. Maybe I have hunting whitetails the wrong way my whole life. Next time I hunt from the ground I will kneel down with my bow and see if the start walking toward me.

As she walked out I was able to snap a few more shots of her before she decided to scamper off when I tried to take a few more steps toward her.

After she meandered off I walked back to my truck and packed my stuff. I went and picked up a few items from Tractor Supply and finished my autumn errands around the house. All and all it was a good time. I did some reflecting, some thinking, some destressing and thought a lot about how a walk in the fog is a good way to clear a foggy mind. Especially if your in the fog, taking a picture of something in the fog through the fog.