Post your best current shots

[Kayaker72]

I agree with the others Tounis...beauty of a shot.

I just got back from my "Christmas" with family in the Palouse....I didn't get out to shoot much, but did manage to snap these....anyone have tips for photographing fog? My shots never look as good as the actual scene did...just wondering....


small-0957 by kayaker72, on Flickr


small-0950 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Thanks for viewing...
Brant

[ahab1372]

Brant,
I do like the second one - calm and a little fairy tale mystery in the shot.
I cannot offer much advice on photographing fog - I have done it only once, and that was the kids on the beach, and the fog was a big softbox. It didn't matter if the sun was in my back or right behind the subject. I used the level sliders heavily, and some pics came out nice.
So maybe the best way to deal with fog is to have something in the foreground as a subject, and use the fog as a background, and/or to add to the scene, but not as the main subject? Curious what others have to say.

[elbeasto]

[DavidEccleston]

Nice ones, elbeasto. I like the first two, especially the first.

[M_Six]

^^^Cool shot. And I agree, some silhouettes in the staircase would have been ideal.

What is that building, btw? Pretty secure place with two video cameras.

[conropl]

A lot of great shots everyone.

I got up early today to try to get a shot of a covered bridge for the assignment, but unfortunately the road was closed for the season. So I had to go for plan B to catch the sunrise. So I shot this:


The Barn that Everybody Shoots-3096 by westmichigan, on Flickr

[Joel Eade]

An image of a statue with special effects added in post

[DKSA]

Rockport Motif and Anchor by david.woodford, on Flickr

[conropl]

Elbeasto and DKSA:

Welcome to the forum, and you both have entered with great shots. Keep them coming.

[conropl]

...anyone have tips for photographing fog? My shots never look as good as the actual scene did...just wondering....

...Brant

Brant:
I am not an expert at fog, but there a few things I have learned:

CPL Filter - As was mentioned earlier, a CPL helps. Basically, you want to rotate the CPL to change which angle you want to record how the light is reflecting off the water droplets to get the best effect. This can really change the contrast. Additionally, in the fog, everything is wet... so like with waterfall shots, sometimes you want to eliminate that glare off the rocks. The same is true with fog, you may want to eliminate (or emphasize) the reflections from wet surfaces.

Exposure Difficulties - Fog makes for a nice diffused light... which is usually what you want. However, the light that your camera is metering off can be the reflected light from the fog and can throw off the exposure of your subject. ± 2/3 to 1 stop adjustment may be needed.

Contrast - In PP you may want to play more with the contrast and clarity. That is, increase the contrast to get the subject to show up more and make the fog more subtle, and maybe more importantly it helps to brings out the shadows in the fog (which gives it a more realistic appearance). Maybe your first shot could have used more contrast to bring out the subject better.

B&W Conversion - Also in PP, a B&W conversion can give you more leeway in processing to bring out contrast and shadows. This is particularly true when the shot is fairly colorless due to the fog anyway. Your second shot has very little color left in it and conversion to B&W may have helped.

Timing - The earlier you can get there the better chance for finding layered fog in the cold of the morning, and that makes for some real neat effects. Here is an example where the fog and light was constantly changing, but 10 -15 minutes later it was solid fog and you could see nothing.

Lake of the Clouds by westmichigan, on Flickr


Lake of the Clouds (Porcupine Mountains) by westmichigan, on Flickr

Shadows - If it is a solid haze... then look for when the sun produces rays or interesting shadows. Here are some examples of where I just needed to wait long enough to catch the sun high enough to get some rays shining through. The first one was the last shot as I was heading out after a nice sunrise... I was packing up and walking out, and I turned around and zoomed in to take a quick hand held shot and this turned out to be the best shot of the day. All my other shot were to wide and showed a nice sunrise, but this one zoomed in to isolate the nice shadows being created (I learned a good lesson that day).


Pine River by westmichigan, on Flickr


Bond Falls in the Fog-0916 by westmichigan, on Flickr

Interesting Foreground - If there is just solid fog and no shadows, then it may be worthwhile to have something of interest in your foreground that is in good focus and let the background blur out as you get away from the subject (a little like bokeh, but with fog instead of using shallow DOF). This means you need to get pretty close to the object in the foreground to keep it from losing detail in the fog. In this example the sunflowers in the foreground are sharp and the background becomes progressively less defined.

Sunflowers in the Morning Mist and Fog by westmichigan, on Flickr

I hope that helps a little.

Pat