Nature faking a fire

What I have photographed here appears to be smoke rising from a log. It is not smoke.

Nov. 5 was a cool, damp day that transitioned into a cold -- but not freezing -- night. The morning of Nov. 6 saw me fortunate enough to find a bright sun shining through an opening in the forest trees intently striking a wet cool log. The tree had fallen down a hillside, positioning its main trunk about three feet off the ground. I believe this positioning aided in the sun's ability to heat the surface of the log and evaporate the moisture from its bark.

Fog usually forms at night when humidity is high and differences of ground temperatures and air temperatures are evident. There are many different kinds of fog. Evaporation fog is described by the National Weather Service as fog that forms when large amounts of water vapor are added to the air through evaporation and mixes with cool, dry air to form fog. What I have captured here must be evaporation fog in its most simple and, possibly, most beautiful form.

Through the Woods is a weekly nature photo column by Aaron Horrell. Find this column at semissourian.com to order a reprint of the photo. Find more work by him at the Painted Wren Gallery.