Misty Morning

I woke early. There was a mist in the glen. I rose and hastily grabbed my cameras to try and capture it. Tossing the gear in the back of the Land Rover I drove along the river track. At the old sheep fold I pulled up and walked towards the river bank. I knew the trees would be reflected in the still river.

I snapped with my D200 and then went about setting up the 4x5.


It was a delight in the cool mist. The sun tried its best to burn through the mist. Blue skies glimpsed over grey seas and green trees.

At first I tried some B&W on Ilford Delta 100. The meter showed very flat contrast thanks to the mist. It was exactly what I had in mind.

A cuckoo called. My first of the year. Ian always says you can never hear the first cuckoo. Someone else has always heard one before you. It's true.

I climbed the old gate to get better access to the bank further upstream. Setting up the camera in the weeds I chose the 210mm lens to get the right size of image on the ground glass. All went well till I was ready to take the shot. As I clicked the lensboard fell from the camera. Despite my quickest reactions it splashed into the river. Instantly plunging my arm in the water I fished it out and waded to the shore, shaking water off of it as I went. I thought it would be ruined. Well, the shutter would be ruined rather than the lens.

I did my best to shake as much water clear as I could and headed off back to the house.