On Monday, I decided to take advantage of both the day’s holiday and the foggy weather and drive to Pecan Alley, which is a short drive from my house. Pecan Alley is a section of a state highway in which pecan trees line several stretches of the road. What is so mesmerizing to me is how the trees’ limbs have grown over the highway creating a tunnel-like effect that I find very quiet and peaceful, especially in the spring when the limbs are full of leaves.
I have photographed along Pecan Alley a couple of times, and I have always tried to picture in my mind what the scene might look like with fog sifting through the trees. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when I left my house, but, when I arrived, the scene was simply amazing. Even without the leaves, the trees and limbs were still a stunning sight, and the fog added a sense of quiet mystery. The fog was thick, and I could not see very far down the road. Having read a number of Stephen King’s books over the years, I could easily imagine some grotesque creature (or maybe not the whole creature, just one of its very long tentacles) emerging slowly out of the fog. Fortunately, I never saw any of Mr. King’s hideous monsters!
What I did have to watch out for, though, were cars coming down the road. Actually, “watching” for cars would be a misnomer because I couldn’t see more than about a quarter-mile down the highway. “Listening” for cars would be more accurate since I could hear the cars coming long, long before I ever saw their headlights.
With the rain that we had been getting, the shoulders of the road were quite wet and muddy. I estimated my chances of getting stuck to be about fifty-fifty. I finally found a spot that looked somewhat safe and pulled over. I found a location that seem to best emphasize the line of trees with the fog drifting among them and, making sure to keep my ears open for the sound of approaching cars, I set up in the middle of the road to get the shot.
Because of the heavy clouds and dense fog, the colors seemed muted, dull, and washed out, and I found them to be a little distracting and out of place. I converted the photograph to black and white which not only seemed to match the overall mood of the image but also helped bring out the shapes of the trees and limbs.
Settings: Canon 5D Mk IV, 98mm, 0.3 sec, f/32
Maybe you should hire a lookout/bodyguard for taking all these road shots? Lol
Take all the “danger” out of it? That’s part of what makes it so much fun!
You rebel! 😉
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