North of the Flight Deck, Bosque del Apache NWR, NM
Image captured during a workshop with Rick Sammon and Juan Ponds, December 2011. The temperature was - 3 deg F after a storm dumped 6 in. of snow on the refuge. Conditions were ideal for the backlit morning mist to light up like it was on fire.
At Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near San Antonio, NM, Sandhill Cranes linger in the Morning Mist while Snow Geese depart for the corn fields. It was -3 deg F after a snowstorm dumped 6" of snow on southern NM, and the mist rising from the refuge ponds turned to fire as the sun cleared the horizon. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge recently posted this on Facebook and used my image to explain the mist.: A common question from photographers at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is, "where/how do I photograph the steam/fog/hot springs?" The "steam/fog" seen forming above wetlands is not actually the result of liquid water boiling to gas form (there are no hot springs here); but rather is a process of condensation as water vapor in the air directly above lake surfaces is cooled by the low temperature of the surface water. The effect is usually most pronounced in winter months following cold clear nights. Water just below the surface remains warmer so that vapor still forms above the lake; but the chilled surface causes the vapor to condense into a misty layer of "steam/fog."