How-To
When you’re taking advantage of fog or light mist to create a moody landscape, the colors and contrast will drop off considerably as subjects get farther away from the camera. Here, you can see how much more colorful the foliage and pink flowers look in the foreground and how the rest of the scene becomes tones of gray.
Misty atmospherics are much less common than landscape shots taken on a clear day because most photographers refrain from venturing too far out into the fog. That makes sense. It’s easy to get lost in fog, but when you know an area and you can get into position, you can be particularly rewarded with moody and unique images.
To create your best atmospheric imagery, there are some basic points to follow. A tripod is your best friend because you want to be able to shoot at a low ISO to avoid noise and preserve color. Depth of field is important because you want to have objects in the mist as sharp as they can be, and in the lower-light conditions, you frequently need to use a shutter speed that would be perilously low if you’re handholding. Another reason for using the tripod is that it allows you to be patient. Atmospheric conditions can change very quickly when you’re shooting in fog and mist. One second it’s almost drizzling, and the next you can have a beam of sunlight shining through on your main subject. Be patient and set up on a tripod, then wait and watch as the conditions change and evolve.
Predicting Fog And Mist
Ask any meteorologist, and he or she will tell you that fog is tricky to predict with any certainty. Often, you get fog near water, which is a little bit warmer than the ambient temperature. It’s finicky stuff, though, and the thickness varies wildly with temperature differences and wind. Sometimes you get a touch of fog hanging just above the water, and other times a whole valley fills with it.
When it forms, fog tends to come on in the evening and it can last into the following morning. As the sun comes up, though, the fog usually burns off quickly. Your best bet for timing is in the early morning. If you can do it, scouting a location the night before so you can be ready at dawn yields the best results. Whether you scout or if you just get up early and drive around looking for a shot, you’ll want to set up and get to work quickly. As mentioned previously, conditions can change in seconds.
As the sun breaks through the fog, you can get a magnificent effect from the beams of light. It shows up best slightly off-axis from the direction you’re shooting. Color And Contrast
Shooting through fog and mist is, in essence, shooting into a softening filter. The miniscule droplets of water rob the scene of saturation and contrast. Of course, this creates the very effect that we’re looking for when it comes to creating a moody photograph. Because of the natural loss of color and contrast, you want to do what you can to preserve what’s there. Use a low ISO setting, and watch your exposure carefully. The camera has a tendency to darken the scene because it’s looking at a canvas of white and the meter wants that white to be middle gray. Shoot in RAW to give yourself maximum flexibility in postprocessing, and think about dialing in some exposure compensation