With little sleep, I woke before my alarm and over a cup of tea, I reviewed my plan for my day at Starved Rock State Park.  I had planned to get an early start anyway and it was still the dark of night when I left.  With no moonlight or stars visible in the night sky, it was very dark and driving on county roads was rather precarious.  While on the motorway, the only light I had to go by was from my car’s headlights and the occasional oncoming vehicle.  The further I travelled towards my destination, I began to realise I was becoming enveloped in a low lying fog.  Without being able to view external light sources or landmarks, it was hard to judge just how foggy conditions were becoming, but as the pre-dawn twilight became brighter, I soon realised just how soupy thick the fog was becoming.

My normal journey time of fifty to sixty minutes was considerably extended due to reduced speed for safety and because, to my utter surprise, I found myself driving on the bridge over the Illinois River which meant that I completely drove passed the exit ramp without even knowing it.  That’s how dense the fog had become.  Once I was able to finally turn around and found the exit ramp, I arrived safe and sound at Starved Rock State Park at 07:40, 10 minutes after sunrise; much later than I wanted.

Although it was becoming evermore lighter, the fog was still soupy thick and it was hard to distinguish where the sun was above the horizon.  I first made my way to the river bank and could barely see the centre islands, but the far bank was completely hidden from view by the misty fog.  Visibility distance varied and was at best only a few meters to a few tens of meters, even from atop the Starved Rock outcrop.  With practically nothing to see, let alone photograph, I made my way to the park lodge where I took some photos of Fox Canyon and the sun trying to peer through the dense fog.  From there I hiked over to LaSalle Canyon and Tonty Canyon.  By 11:00, the fog had completely dissipated.  I spent the next couple of hours at this location before going to Owl Canyon and then over to Council Overhang, Kaskaskia Canyon and Ottawa Canyon.  In the late afternoon, I made my way back to Starved Rock Overlook to photograph the canopy of autumn foliage colours across the park.

Even though the early morning drive to Starved Rock State Park was hazardous, once there, it was absolutely amazing to be in an environment enveloped by such a dense fog, and to photograph the scenery.  It would also be amazing to photograph a model in such an environment.  I long for another opportunity—ode to the prediction of foggy conditions.  Overall, to be in such an environment with conditions as they were, it was a very ethereal experience.

About This Photograph

The above photograph was taken, shortly after I arrived at the state park, by a picnic area near the Visitor Centre and shows the view across the Illinois River.  The cameras image sensor peered through the fog and captured an image that is far more distinct than what I visually observed.  As I recall, at the moment I took this photograph, the low lying fog was so thick, I could just barely make out the dark fuzzy shapes of trees on the islands in the centre of the river and certainly nothing beyond.  In the raw photo, it is easy to see the trees on the islands and to faintly see the tree line on the far river bank.  The general height of the overlying fog can be determined as a hint of the cyan-blue morning sky is viewable above.  Additionally, the camera sensor captured more contrast than what I recall from that moment in time.  In post-processing, I wrestled as to how much editing I ought to do between what the camera sensor actually captured and what I recall experiencing visually.  While I did not want to over edit this image, I opted more on the side of what the camera sensor captured even though the image is not representative of what I visually experienced.