Horses in the Morning Haze

For me, every season has its own set of images fixed in my mind that I immediately think of. In winter, it’s snow and Christmas decorations; in spring, it’s the many colorful blossoms – and in fall, besides colorful leaves, it’s one thing above all: fog.

Morning haze in the Odenwald

Until recently, we lived in the so-called Ried, a part of the Rhine river plain near Frankfurt, where fog hardly ever forms over the wide, flat farmland. And if it does, it is usually only a thin veil over the fields, which quickly gives way to the warming rays of the sun or the rising wind in the morning. In the flat landscape, it is also difficult to find subjects that stand out from the fog in a charming way. Of course, the really foggy days do exist as well, with their very own mystical to creepy mood, especially at dusk. But I find that difficult to capture in a picture.

This situation changed considerably since we moved to the Odenwald this summer. At an elevation of about 400 meters (1,300 ft.), and half an hour’s drive from the warm valley of the Rhine, the weather is noticeably different. The landscape here constantly alternates between small valleys and larger plains, interspersed with villages and farmland. But above all, there is forest, in every form. I have rarely seen so much variety as here: deciduous forest takes turns with coniferous forest; sometimes with impenetrable undergrowth, then again with large clearings.

Forests and valleys already have the pleasant effect that the landscape here does not heat up as much in summer, making hot days much more bearable. Above all, they store a lot of moisture. And in autumn, that equals fog.

Of dogs and horses

Of course, our faithful dog has moved with us, motivating us to explore the surrounding area at different times of the day. I still enjoy the morning rounds the most, especially in spring and autumn, when they coincide with sunrise. There are countless opportunities here to find trails through the surrounding woods. In the morning, however, I prefer the small road that heads west out of town and up the next hill.

Along the way, you pass a few paddocks. On one of them, at the end of the village, there are three Icelandic horses: a white, a black and a chestnut. We quickly nicknamed the three of them the “Three Kings”.

And here the individual pieces of the puzzle slowly come together to form a wonderful picture: For as seen from the road, the sun rises just behind the village, and the small valley in which we are located is often shrouded in mist in the morning. The backlight creates quite magical moods in this atmosphere. From further up the path, you can see the shadows cast by houses and trees in the fog, as shown on the picture above.

Down in the town itself, the sun lighting the fog from behind makes it seem as if the air itself glows. This is then emphasized by special effects such as when rays of light fall through the leaves of a large tree, or a horse poses so that the sun rises just behind its mane…

The Result

This image expresses so much for me, especially the incredible calm in the early morning when the day awakens slowly. Living where other people go on vacation…

I don’t know exactly for which month yet, but this image will pretty much make it into my calendar for 2022. In any case, it will end up in the family calendar of the owner of the horses, through whom we have now also learned the civil names of the “Three Kings”.