This time of year, fog often develops over lakes in and around the White Mountains overnight. With temperatures forecast to dip near the freezing mark during the wee hours and into the early morning a few days ago, the table was set for the conditions I was after at Crystal Lake in Eaton, New Hampshire.

I arrived at my location at sunrise.....not that the sun could be seen given the thick fog hanging over the lake. A fisherman who'd pulled in the same time as me launched his boat and promptly disappeared into the dense, white nothingness. Since this was just the situation I expected, I settled in to wait for the sun to work its magic.

After about 90 minutes, though the fog was still quite heavy, it began to brighten considerably. I set up for the shot.

Fog is interesting, though - because one never knows how it's going to behave as it burns off. Also, when it does begin to lift, it typically does so very quickly. The other wildcard was the fact that I had no idea how far along the foliage was in this location since I hadn't visited it yet this season.

As the opposite shore began to drift vaguely in and out of focus, I wondered if I'd be able to make the photo I had in mind. Many of the trees surrounding the little white church were still green - and the fog was lifting in an unusual way.

I had no choice but to go with a much tighter composition than what I'd envisioned. Ironically, it turned out to be a more interesting image in the end.

The single point of concentrated color was an asset. The horizontal parting of the fog created the sense of a curtain going up. And the tight shot highlighted the ethereal feel which the fog lent to the scene.