Driving back to Canberra I had to stop to let the dog pee.

Close to the pullout there is a windpump that I have been wanting to photograph for a while. Set besides the banks of the mysterious lake George, it would be make a perfect composition in morning fog (with some shafts of sun for bonus points).

Alas. Today is fogless. Just past midday with a harsh cloudy light. Not a good set or setting but what the heck. Getting over to the pump required straddling a rusty barbed wire fence, tearing my pants millimetres from testicular ground zero.

A previous adventurer (probably a photographer I’ll wager) had left an old pizza box folded across the barbs, but even so, I managed to flinch and misstep and activate the fundamental purpose of barbed wire.

Then squelching through the cold, boggy lakeshore I positioned myself for the best composition.

Under-anticipating the sinkiness of the mud, my sneakers instantly submitted to the icy influx. My socks offered a defense of mere seconds. In a hurry to escape the situation, I totally overexposed the photo, blowing out the whites in the clouds… this would be a fail in any photography 101 class.

However, I like how the photo turned out. The clouds have this silky, ephemeral look, and the aesthetic accurately portrays the trench-foot mood of the moment.