Nature’s Special Effects

I was out for a bit of drive on SR410 (the road that heads out of the town of Enumclaw towards Mt. Rainier National Park). I decided to head up on a forest Service road just past the small town of Greenwater. There was some fresh snow on the ground, and as I headed deeper into the forest the snow began to pile up. Since this was an unplanned trip, I was alone and I haven't put the tire chains and other winter gear in the car yet, so I was paying close attention to the road condition as I wasn't too keen on getting stuck. There was a point where I was about to turn around, but something made me keep going. Finally I reached a point where the car was sliding around a bit and the snow was getting deeper and deeper. It was also an area where the road was wide enough to turn around. With a bit of back and forth, I managed to get the car turned and pointed down hill. I then decided that I might as well take a bit of a walk since I was there. I turned off the car and got out into the peacefulness of the late autumn/ early winter forest. At this point, the sun was behind the clouds so I just wandered about for a bit. At one point I had my back to this scene when I heard the confident call of a raven somewhere to my right. I turned slightly to see if I could catch a glimpse of the bird. It was at that moment that the sun emerged from behind the clouds and appeared through the branches. I turned fully to look towards the emerging sun when all of a sudden the mist crept into the scene and all the pieces fell together. I stood awestruck for what seemed like a very long time before remembering the camera in my hand. I shot in the neighborhood of 30 frames before the mist cleared, shortly followed by the sun slipping back behind the clouds. For me, this was one of those perfect moments. One of those moments that reminds me how great it is to be alive and how amazing this place we call home is. Life is good.

Equipment: Canon 20D