Smoke hung in the air for miles, smell heavy, and was like sand in our eyes.
While it looks bad it was actually one of many controlled burns we encountered today. It did affect our photographs in places.
I have watched the burns, and the results. Without these burns brush gets thick and would be a disaster with our many lightning storms.
As a city person I still feel apprehension for the land and animals. But it does work, and doesn’t rage or cause destruction.
Stranger still is that we, as photographers can be right in the middle of this. Even drive down a trail, dike, or dirt road with flames right on the side. Today we went within feet of a DNR truck spewing flames to start a burn. Up north they would have closed everything for miles around, not here. It’s about nature and individual responsibility.
Some places can smolder for a week. In a few weeks new growth starts, the charred trees leaf out, and life starts new.
I am very familiar, Ted, with this process. A couple of the wildlife parks that I visit use controlled burns to maintain the habitat. It is disconcerting, especially when I see the immediate aftermath, but it is surprising how quickly nature recovers.
Even more when we are caught in the middle of it š