Your foggy photos are almost surreal, yet I can feel the damp air, smell the fresh forest and hear the near silence.

Ugh, I feel you on the tripod frustration, it took me a long time of being annoyed until I finally got myself a really suberb tripod that can hold up the bigger lenses too. My photography teacher also had a good tip (that requires some commitment) of super glueing the tripod quick release plate onto the camera permanently.