Sunbeams over the cattails

A cool April morning along the river turned into a wall of backlit mist rising off the water, with the sun breaking through the trees at just the right angle to catch it. The cattails hadn’t leafed out yet — just bare stalks left over from the previous season, holding the foreground together.

Getting the shot

Stopped down to f/16 to pull a starburst out of the sun and hold focus from the near cattails through to the distant treeline. Fifteen minutes later the mist had burned off and the light was flat — this kind of scene has a short window.