I had a lovely photo wander in the park on Sunday. Sunrise is starting to reach that time of the year when one has to get up quite early, and I set my alarm for just after 5am. When I reached the gates of the park, there was a little mist, but not enough to feel too optimistic. However, I was happy to be there, and it's amazing how conditions can change as dawn approaches. There had been a little frost, and there was barely a breath of wind. The finest, most delicate brush strokes of high cloud hovered over the horizon, and it looked as though it could catch some nice colour as sunrise approached.
Work has been full on for the last few weeks. I headed in the direction of the ponds, still feeling sleepy from this current busy spell, and the early alarm.
There was a decent amount of localised mist floating above the water when I got to my destination. The sky was also starting to look very pink and pretty, so I set up a composition quickly...
I spent quite a long time here, and took numerous shots of the same composition, as the light changed. This is one of the first that I took, that has the least amount of ripples from passing wild foul, and is probably the best of the set. As sunrise drew near, the mist thickened to such a degree that it was starting to obscure the far away island, which made the composition a little unbalanced. I decided to take a wander to somewhere slightly less misty, further up the hill.
This is a smaller pond that no one seems to photograph. However, I think it's very photogenic, and the lack of other photographers is really nice. It's one of the ponds that dogs are allowed to swim in. Around the main ponds there are notices everywhere, requesting that dog owners to keep dogs on leads. Sadly, not everyone abides by this rule, there have been numerous attacks on the wildlife in the park, from out of control dogs.
Because this is a dog swimming pond, I was very surprised to meet a pair of swans here. They were dozing by the bank when I walked past, and I clearly disturbed them. Once in the water they embarked upon a morning preening session, before the female swan laid her head on her body for floating nap. It isn't the safest pond for a swan pair to take up residence, and I suspect they won't stay in this pond for long.
The mist had thickened really nicely, but the cloud cover was very thin and the light was getting harsh. I wandered back to the bigger pond.
I'm not a huge fan of harsh light, but it did look very dramatic. It was now more than sufficiently light to take a hand held, bracketed shot of the island with this bench in the foreground. The area around the sun is still a little blown out in this shot, and I should have perhaps used a darker exposure, however this was just a fun shot, and I think it documents the scene nicely.
I did a slightly better job of controlling the exposure on the shot below. I set up my tripod for this and took a bit more care over it, and as a result I've maintained the highlight details in the area surrounding the sun.
The light was too harsh now. The mist hadn't really quite made it into the woods, which are still looking quite bare. The old oaks trees take longer to grow their new spring leaves. I skirted around the edge of this woodland on my way back home, and rather liked how the sun rays were bursting from behind this tree, so I set up one last composition on my tripod, and used a 5 shot bracket to capture this image.
I'm really hoping for some more settled weather over the coming days. Also, there is a full moon on Saturday, and it would be nice to try and capture a shot of it, if the weather is favourable.
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Those swans looked awesome and so did the rest of the shots! Thanks for sharing the beauty with us.
Thank you @castleberry! It was an amazing morning. Lots of dramatic light! Really glad that you enjoyed the photographs. :)
I always love the dramatics when it comes to light! hahaha Take care!
Wow what a great series! Do you have filters to work with? To get the sun a little less blown out?
Thank you @haastrecht! Glad that you like my photo wander blog.
I have a whole bunch of filters, but rarely use the grads these days, as I prefer to use exposure bracketing when faced with a high contrast scene. I find that it gives me more creative options when editing.
Obviously this depends on executing the shot properly in the first place. The image with the blown out cloud details around the sun was taken hand held, while I was deep in conversation with another photographer, who had just returned from a trip to Fanal in Madeira. I suspect I was focused more on the conversation, than correctly exposing the bracketed shots... 😆
Cool, I am trying to do the bracketing more often! How do you edit hem? Does youri camera do that or do you use LR ore PS?
Usually, I blend the bracketed exposures together in LR. Sometimes I take the images into PS. I have the Lumenzia Photoshop plug in installed, which is a great tool for luminance masking, and I find it quite useful for processing these sorts of images.
Beautiful colours, especially the second from the bottom!
Thank you @rimicane! It was a spectacular morning to be out and about. The mist really thickened up nicely, I was pleasantly surprised!
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Uh I loved these! The swans sitting on the lake in such a moody misty atmosphere .....very nice!
Thank you so much @creativemary! The swans were a lovely surprise. I've never seen any swans in this pond before... :)
I always loved this mix between sun, fog and water. Everything looks like being part of a story or movie scene!
It really is a lovely combination. Mist makes everything look so pretty and magical. It was a stunning morning to be out. :)
fantastic what amazing and excellent photos taken as you rarely see here you can see
you are a professional photographer
I'm glad I saw such a good profile😃
Thank you, that's a lovely comment. I'm not a professional photographer, I don't sell my work. It is a very obsessive hobby though. :)
It's okay, it's a super hobby that leads you to addiction😀
swans.... I think havent seen them for decades. eh...
NB. today we are celebrating something and have a !PIZZA, let me share with you some.
You don't have swans in St. Petersburg? I did not know this.
Can you say what you are celebrating?? Have some celebratory !PIZZA too!
well could be a family event that happens once a year 🤩 😋
as for the swans... I was told there are a few this rara avis in the so called 'Summer Garden' of Peter the Great, but.... it may be rather an exception than a rule. yes, generally, they are not coming here... 😥
Congratulations on your 'family event'!! 😀
You still have some snow, maybe they are better suited to a milder climate...?
!PIZZA
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I love foggy / misty scenes - great post and awesome photos, Cath 👍😍
!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote
Really glad that you enjoyed the post @johannpiber! I was very fortunate with the super-misty weather. :)
Have some !PIZZA too!
Oh yes, such weather conditions belong to my favourites, but happen too seldom here 😭 you're most welcome 😊
I think I am very lucky that they come relatively frequently here. :)
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These photos are so extraordinary, and I feel there is a mystical impression of these photos. Truly an amazing photo.
Thank you @gituuuttt! The misty atmosphere does make everything look rather magical. :)
I love these shoots!
Thank you Andrea! Really glad that you do. :)