The forecast for Sunday morning looked really good. Hardly any wind, relatively cool, clear skies. All the ingredients for a nice atmospheric dawn. My husband was doing a 400km bicycle ride on Saturday (yes, I know that probably sounds totally bananas). He left the house at 5am on Saturday morning, and wasn't sure how long he was going to take, but it would be at least midnight before he got back to the finish. So, not only was I going to set my alarm early on Sunday morning, but I was also going to get woken up in the middle of the night, by a very tired cyclist, who would need to eat, get cleaned up, and make lots of noise. 😴
I was up from 1.30am until about 3am, then I had an hours sleep before the alarm went off at 4am. I felt knackered, but dragged myself up and out of the house. My back was feeling a bit better, but not 100%, so I took the car up to the park gates rather than ride my bicycle. There was a very decent amount of mist, so at least the alarm had been worth it.
A very pretty waning half moon hung in the sky. So far this year I have failed to take any full moon photographs, but have been gifted some very pretty half and crescent moons. I arrived at the ponds, and took this shot before the sky became too bright.
The mist was getting really thick, and before I knew it, the bigger island had been completely engulfed and was no longer visible. I needed to go higher, where hopefully the visibility would be better. I headed towards the little pond and my favourite tree. As I walked, I turned around to do a cloud check. The sky was really lighting up, so I quickly set up this shot framing the tree, and the new bracken ferns, silhouetted by the mist.
I love bracken. It's return in late spring is always a welcome sight. The new growth looks amazing, as each leaf unfurls and reveals it's perfect, acid green fractal pattern. Equally, it looks gorgeous in the autumn, when it turns a rich golden brown colour, ideally covered with a sprinkling of frost.
Without moving my tripod legs, I pivoted my camera about 120 degrees clockwise. There was something pleasing about the moon framed by the trees, and the wisp of white cloud and mist above and below.
Onwards to the little pond. But when I got close, I could see there was already someone there! This has never happened before. This pond is completely overlooked by photographers, I always have the place to myself (which is perhaps why I like it so much!). The man was puffing on a cigarette, with his tripod set up, directly underneath my favourite tree. Bugger! He was very friendly, and we exchanged a few words, but it did scupper my plans. I retraced my steps, not knowing quite where to head to. My brain was feeling very tired from the broken sleep, and it felt as foggy as my surroundings looked. It made decision making hard. The light was absolutely amazing, and the fog was ridiculously thick. Any composition was going to be pretty minimal anyway, as most of the landscape was obscured. I lined up these trees, and took a shot.
I walked a little further, and suddenly the sun was right there, rising in front of me. The spiders had been very busy overnight, weaving their webs over the bracken and grasses. The webs were covered in dew and catching the light. I grabbed this shot with the cobwebby foreground, the foggy tree, and the rising sun peeking over the distant treeline.
I think the last time I shot this scene was in November. It was so nice to see the mist infiltrate the trees again...
The sun was now quite high, and I started walking in the general direction of the gates. Some mist still lingered in the air, thanks to a little high cloud, softening the sun's rays. I spent a while working on this photograph below. A three image focus stack, to ensure that the cobwebs in the foreground, and the tree, were all in focus.
I then spent absolutely no time at all on this image below. A single exposure, hand held. The light was getting harsh and I was very, very tired. Definitely time to go home.
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