Fog softens the landscape, hiding details, except those up close. Areas touched by the warm early morning sun are spotlit with a golden glow. Other areas are blue, but not too blue. Contrast is low. The water and land are quiet. What a joy for a painter or photographer.
No red fox or fogbow this morning. The scenes hold their own less dramatic magic along Route 10, River Road, East Thetford Road, and Breck Hill Road in Lyme, NH. Interestingly, Breck Hill Road crosses Brick Hill.
The enchanting fog lasted less than an hour. It was light enough to see through, not the dark moody gloom that sometimes obscures almost everything. I worked quickly, striving to capture as many scenes as I could while the amazing light lasted. No time or inclination to use a tripod.
Wilder WMA is located along River Road south of the mouth of Grant Brook. A mix of wetland and fields, it is open to the public.
In the expansive mouth of Grant Brook, a single Canada Goose glides silently.
A pair of trees catch my eye. How to frame? I ask my photo students, “when is the best time to take a vertical photo”?
The answer, of course, is “right after you have taken a horizontal”.
I learned years ago the value of having horizontals and verticals, even when it cost $0.25 each time the shutter clicked exposing another piece of slide film.
Elsewhere, a crooked tree provides drama. Again, the “how to frame” issue arises, but this time it is how much of the scene to include. Often less is more.
A side road provides a nice leading line to the background trees.
A pair of deer freeze, almost camouflaged in front of last fall’s browns and a stone wall.
And then they bolt. The image below is a three-photo composite of the smaller one bounding along the field.
A quick shot of the mouth of Clay Brook, which drains Post Pond in the Chaffee Natural Conservation Area …
… and a look back at Grant Brook …
… completes a nice hour before the sun burns through and the land becomes one of high contrast.
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