MORNING, SLICED THIN

It was the fog that woke me, trailing insistent fingers against my bedroom window, urging me to wake up.

I resisted, burrowed deeper into my bed, but one glimpse of those foggy tendrils grabbed me, pulled me out of my cocoon, and sent me in search of my camera.

Because everyone wants to be wandering around in the fields an hour before sunrise, right?

As usual, I really didn’t know what I was looking for and the first three or four dozen shots I took proved that. I kept walking. Then, I started to play with the ribbons of fog as they wound through the trees and fields.

And then fog around the abandoned farm site.

And then, the first peachy hues of the approaching sun.

And then… And then…

An oddly-stacked gallery from that morning walk, but I found that I was most happy with slices of the landscape, rather than full-on traditional ratios. Please click on any image to view the shots in a gallery format.

One more shot to share. I was out for a little more than an hour and returned home pretty satisfied with my morning’s work. Came in through the back patio doors, put down my camera, took off my wet shoes…and glanced back outside to see this display over my flower garden:

Sunrise plus lingering fog, all filtered through the trees, equals WOW!

 

WISCONSIN GOTHIC

Six images

The abandoned farm around the corner. There’s a tear-down in progress, though I’ve never seen anyone working at the site.

I think these last two ladder shots have a little Wyeth vibe going for them.

TREE FARM IN THE FOG

Monday was “Fog and Trees Day” for your friend, Wabi Sabi. I opened the morning in the arboretum with mighty oaks, hungry turkeys and light fog and a few hours later moved into much thicker fog and many acres of fir trees on a Christmas Tree farm in Kewaunee County.

This place should be renamed Leading Lines Tree Farm, a Photographer’s Delight.

I’ve been here before (and in the fog) and the pure orderly arrangement of perfectly trimmed trees makes my head swim. 

In a good way.

No matter what angle you take for viewing, it is a pure visual delight. The fog adds another element, blurring rows in the distance and creating a grainy overlay on images.

Click on any picture below to view this set as a gallery.

STILL LIFE WITH TURKEYS AND FOG AT 7:30 A.M.

And a squirrel. There was a squirrel, too, but he zipped out of the frame just as I took the picture.

As I said, Still Life with Turkeys and Fog.

Geese. Did I mention the geese? They were huge and flying low and loud (I could hear them long before they appeared over the tree line) but shooting directly up into a foggy gray sky produced more of…hmmm…an impression of geese rather than solid images.

The junkyard will return momentarily. Think of this post as a photographic sorbet before the next course.

 

FOG FARM FINALE

Seven images

Last of the shots from my foggy morning walk to the Wabi Sabi farm:

JUST ONE FOR TODAY

I thought this image should stand alone.

WABI SABI MORNING PART II

6 images

Yesterday’s outbuilding unveiled.

In this series, the fog is a visible presence.

If you would like to place this building in context, the final shot is from a post I did in early August.

Next time: Hey! What about that big red building?

WABI SABI MORNING

I’ve brought you along with me many times to the deserted farm around the corner…and here we go again.

A developer (hissssss boooo) purchased  the property a few months ago and several of the buildings have been torn down. The two or three remaining have really deteriorated.

Yet…on a foggy morning last week there was so much beauty still to be found.

Today is my photo version of The Dance of the Seven Veils: a slow reveal of one of the last buildings standing.

The tall brown stalks are mulleins going to seed. The mullein is a wildflower as well as an herbal utility player.  You can smoke it, drink it or apply it as a poultice.

Or, you can crouch behind some to shoot your photographs, getting some pretty sweet vertical lines in the bargain.

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The fog doesn’t play a starring role in this series, yet it served as a filter for all of my shots that morning, subtly softening both the landscape and the buildings.  That will be more obvious in the next couple of posts.

RISING UP FROM THE FOGGY DEPTHS

Six images

We’ve had early morning fog here for four of the past ten days, so I think my posts for the next two weeks will reflect that.

Unless I see something else all shiny.

Or a squirrel.

But right now, our theme for the next several posts will be “Fog.”

Bay Beach Amusement Park,  7:00 Saturday morning,  well before the park opened and the Labor Day weekend crowds began to arrive.

This is the Zippin Pippin, a classic wooden roller coaster.

The fog provided a spectacular filter and I had my exposure dialed up to account for it. Generally the wood has a warm golden tone but that was negated by the fog and I saw no reason to attempt to recapture that color.

My favorite thing about the Pippin is the structure itself: the framework, the hardware, and the wood grain. If you have time, click on the pictures for a larger view. Then you can see what I mean about the wood.

Yes, I have ridden the Zippin Pippin–exactly once–and the crazed litany that passed through my lips for the entire ride would have done a sailor proud.

FAIRY TALE UPDATE

Having climbed the beanstalk to the Giant’s kingdom above the clouds, Jack was startled to find it far more industrialized than he had expected.

Shot from across the river on a day when the air was so thick and wet and heavy, that had I but sneezed and thereby added one more scintilla of moisture to the air, it would have precipitated a torrential downpour the likes of which had never been seen in this city.

I didn’t.

You’re welcome, Green Bay.