The Making of St. Marks Foggy Palms
I had been wanting to photograph the pine trees and palmettos at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in heavy fog for some time. When I finally saw fog in the forecast, I got up early and drove down to the coastal park in the dark so I would be there for sunrise. However, when I arrived, the heavy fog that was forecast for the region wasn't heavy enough up in the pine flatwoods.
Instead, most of the fog had remained down by the water. So I scrapped my plans and went exploring. After going on some short hikes in different areas, I eventually wound up hiking along one of the large pools and came to these little palm tree islands in the water.
The fog was coming and going in the wind, so I set up my tripod and worked the scene for a while, taking lots of shots in varying visibility so I would have some options. At some times, the fog was too thin to have the desired effect. At other times, it was too thick and hid everything beyond the closest palm island. I was also having to be cognizant of water droplets from the fog that would form on my lens in the breeze and I would occasionally have to wipe off the lens between frames.
In the series of shots, I had captured the landscape photograph St. Marks Foggy Palms.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is a an 83,000 acre wildlife refuge managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Refuge is located along the coast of Apalachee Bay in the Gulf of Mexico along the Forgotten Coast region of Florida. It is near the town of St. Marks, south of Tallahassee, the state capital.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1931 as a winter refuge for migrating birds. It is home to the St. Marks Lighthouse, the second oldest lighthouse in Florida.
