As a mom of two young boys, it's hard to get time to get out and do the nature photography that I love. But the days are getting shorter and colder and the leaves are peaking in color and falling off the trees so I knew I needed to just take the time. I gave my husband notice that I would be taking off for a couple hours on Saturday and waited for the day to come. I woke, plenty early to catch the perfect light of early morning, only to be greeted by a dense fog. A quick trip to the weather page told me the fog was sticking around until midmorning.

Now plenty of photographers will tell you that fog is wonderful for photography. I'm not one of them. I've never managed to take quality fog photos and much prefer a sunshiny day. Still, I had blocked off this time and all I could do was make the best of it. I did leave later than I had planned, spending the morning getting the kids ready to make it easier for my husband. Then, at 9am, I set off to get a couple hours of me time with my camera in the great outdoors.

With only a couple hours, I needed a place that was close. But it also needed to have something that would be interesting in the fog which left out my original plan of capturing bluffs clothed in their finest colors. My first thought, and where I ended up going, was down to McGilvray Road. Also known as "Seven bridges," this old road goes down through the wetlands just north of Holmen. It's a great place for nature photography and the bridges themselves make a great subject. I had in mind an image of them coming out of the fog that I aimed to capture.

Driving in dense fog is eerie. I headed down highway 53 and was enveloped in a cloud. I kept going on faith, assuming the road would continue appearing out of the white ahead of me. I did pretty good, other than nearly turning into a farm instead of the road I meant to be on and, in no time, I was there. I was surprised at the number of cars there on such a cold foggy morning that wasn't much good for a walk. Despite the cars, the trail was quiet in nature's definition of that word. Not silent, but calm and still with no breeze and just the drip of water off the leaves and the occasional bird crying out from the trees. Peaceful and a welcome change from the chaos of a house with children.

I walked on, stopping now and then to set up the tripod and snap some photos of whatever caught my interest. The fog was still thick with no sign of the sun and I tried to make the best of it. I deliberately underexposed, hoping to counteract the usual washed out look of my fog photos. On my tiny camera monitor, it seemed my strategy was succeeding. The laptop monitor, though shows that I over compensated too much. Still, though, I managed some that I think aren't half bad.

I had gotten just past the third bridge when I looked back and found a pack of orange clad hunters coming up to the bridge. I quickly set up and got off some shots hoping the brilliant color against the muted background would make for an interesting photo. I'm not sure I like the results. I think the orange is over saturated and the hurried composition not the best. They're different, though. I chatted with the hunters a bit once they caught up to me and was surprised when they suggested I should be wearing orange as well. Not being a hunter or ever been involved with hunting at all, I naively assumed hunters weren't allowed to hunt within shooting distance of the road. I still think it's pretty crazy that they'd be anywhere near a road that's a popular place for a nature walk but I decided not to risk it and headed back. Not the sort of shooting in the fog I was going for.

Back up on the highway, the fog was as thick as ever. Lost in the fog or just in thought, I managed to miss my turn off and got off on Sand Lake road instead. Just then, the sun started breaking through the fog. Taking it as a sign that I shouldn't go home, yet, I decided to head up into the bluffs and see if I could get up above the fog. Sure enough, the sun was bright up there with a beautiful view of the foggy valleys below. I did my best to capture the color and the fog but am not too happy with the results. Something to work on for next Autumn, I guess.