Foggy surprise

So a year or so ago I visited this bit of forest for some foggy fall photography. Knowing it showed well, I went back. The conditions were different – much drier, but I still managed a few shots I like. First a couple of small balsams –

Aren’t they cute? The area has been heavily logged as you can see so these little ones might get to be full sized one day. Here is a shot of the road used to haul the trees out probably decades ago –

This year I went down that track instead of going home to coffee and check out what I found –

Wow. The things you find in a Wisconsin wood.

It’s parked right up against some trees so I could only effectively shoot it from this side. I love that the front tires are mismatched and the back ones wear chains. Makes me wonder if there was snow on the ground when the owner finally decided to retire it.

This part of the woods is on a little rise and there’s a vernal pool between it and the road so it’s well-hidden from view. One day I’ll have to explore more.

When I saw this spider web I knew I had to try for a shot so lined up the tripod so it was in front of this maple. The steering wheel is black with decay and probably mold. Seat cushion? We don’t need no stinking seat cushions!

The property is still not posted so I hope to visit more in future. Now I know where this little beast is it might be fun to shoot it in different seasons. The fog though. Oh that’s the best part. Here’s the old road going back where I came in. It’s a gorgeous forest.

The whole time I was there I wondered if game or trail cameras were taking my picture. I’ve stumbled across one or two in my wandering and am always conscious they could be around. So I try to look as harmless and respectful of private property as I can. I don’t want to make anyone angry and I don’t want the site to be posted in future. Crossing my fingers!

If anyone cares I shot all the photos in this post using a tripod and the Lumix G9. RAW development in Lightroom 10 and 11 using global and local adjustments (or masking as Lr now terms these things which bugs me, but that’s another post). I’ve also done further enhancement on some of them with Photoshop and specifically the TK8 Multi-mask and Cx panels. The level of control with luminosity and color masking is unbelievable and I love what it does. I’m toying with the idea of a before and after post about this last image particularly which was completely done in Lightroom 11. Let me know if you want one and I’ll put it together.