Mist opportunities
A busy schedule of workshops and commissions means I don’t get as much time as I would like for my own photography. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and enjoy every project I’m involved in but often when I do have free time I find myself being a bit tired/lazy and opting for a lie in rather than a sunrise shoot.
Last week a period of high pressure brought hot, calm weather and cool nights to East Anglia… the perfect conditions for misty mornings and as I had a bit of space in the diary, I was determined not to miss that.
When I am working on a particular project, whether it be a workshop recce, a commission or a book, I spend a lot of time planning to make sure I’m getting the most from every trip. Unusually this week I had no locations that I particularly needed to shoot and a very loose plan of wanting to capture some atmospheric misty scenes, ideally a few aerial shots and to enjoy the freedom.
There was still some heather flowering on Suffolk’s heaths so I thought I’d start the week with a sunrise trip to Sutton Heath. Early mornings are the best time to capture the mist so these were all going to be sunrise trips, perhaps that subconsciously swayed my decision to visit Sutton Heath which (along with neighbouring Hollesley Common) are the nearest areas of heath to home. But it is also an area that I often drive through on my way to the coast at places like Bawdsey and Shingle Street but don’t stop and photograph as often as I should so it was an opportunity to rectify that. Conditions were wonderful, the heath was shrouded in surprisingly cold patches of mist and I found a composition that I was pleased with but as I waited for the sun to rise, the cloud closed in and spoiled the party a little. Whenever possible I take my dog with me when I go out with my camera, as I did on this occasion and so I never have a wasted trip because she always enjoys the walk. If I come away with a single shot I’m pleased with then I’m happy as well and on this occasion I also found a new spot to return to.
With a talk at Kingston-upon-Thames Camera Club on Monday night (a 5-6 hour round trip) I decided to give sunrise a miss on Monday morning to be fresh for the evening and as I didn’t get home until nearly 1am on Tuesday morning that also wrote off Tuesday’s sunrise. I had another talk booked on Tuesday night at Norwich and District Photographic Society followed by a 1-2-1 workshop on Wednesday afternoon/evening, the sort of schedule which normally would’ve seen me sitting out sunrise on Wednesday morning in favour of some sleep. I was determined not to let this week pass me by though so I set the alarm for 4am with the vague plan of photographing a hopefully misty River Orwell or perhaps River Deben depending on how the mood took me. As I drove out in the misty darkness the next morning I decided to head to Freston, I thought aerial shots of Freston tower rising from the banks of the mist shrouded River Orwell would be just the ticket. Sadly the weather didn’t seem to be aware of the plan (that’s what comes of not planning in advance) and although there was an attractive hazy mist across the river it wasn’t thick enough for the shot I had in mind. Switching to plan B, hastily made up on the spot, I managed to get a shot of the Orwell Bridge with the sun rising over it.
I left with a couple of successful images and another idea that I could return to. As a bonus, driving home I discovered my village was still shrouded in mist so I stopped and managed to get an aerial shot of the local church, peeking out of the misty woods.
Thursday morning I got up slightly earlier and returned to Freston, the earlier start allowing me time to move to a second location if Freston was another failure. Once again the mist was rather thin so I headed to Constable Country only to find that the mist was too thick!
I’ve often photographed the view across the Dedham Vale from East Bergholt, it’s a wonderful view and I have a few pictures from there that I’m pleased with but I really wanted one of Dedham church rising from the misty valley. Faced with a wall of thick fog and not a hint of the valley below I was sorely tempted to head somewhere different but decided to wait it out rather than waste my morning driving around chasing a perfection that might not exist. That said, it was clear that with some time to go until sunrise it wasn’t about to clear any time soon so I decided to fly the drone and see what things looked like from above the mist. Decision-making in landscape photography is one of the hardest skills and not something that’s talked about very often (maybe a subject for another blog). I often kick myself when the clarity of hindsight reveals how poor some of my decisions have been but this was definitely one of my better ones. I’m still astonished at times at how beautiful nature can be and how occasionally a photo can capture that atmosphere.
The valley was still thick with fog so I set up my camera with the 100-500mm lens, perfect for picking out a composition in the distance and waited. And waited. Dog walkers passed. And returned. The sun came up and the fog started to thin. Excitement grew. The fog thickened again. More dog walkers passed. Two hours later the view started to materialise and the church appeared out of the mist, I adjusted my composition and got my shot. A few minutes later the mist was little more than a haze.
Friday’s alarm was even earlier, 3.30am but I had a plan. Following the success of Thursday’s drone shots I decided to head to the Norfolk Broads for windmills rising from a misty landscape. The mist was again thicker than I’d hoped and it wasn’t going to give me the aerial shot of my dreams but there are worse ways to spend a peaceful early morning than watching the wildlife while waiting with my dog by the river for the mist to clear.
I hope you enjoy the photos, I’m so lucky to be able to dedicate time to photography like this but what I’m most thankful for is that I can also dedicate a suitable amount of time for breakfast and a nap after these early morning jaunts with the camera.
