Posted by Patrick Nixon on August 9, 2010 at 10:54 PM
From Oct 9-16 I will be shooting in Maine where early morning fog is often encountered. Aside from watching carefully and shooting unmodified when unusual effects are seen, does anyone have any other suggestions for dealing with fog? Such as filters, e.g. polarizer?
Posted by Frank Field on August 10, 2010 at 5:11 PM
Patrick --
We live on the coast of Northern California and get quite a bit of fog here in the summertime -- especially this year! It does make a very interesting environment to shoot in and certainly conveys a sense of quiet and solitude to many images.
Things I try to do include the following. There are times when a polarizer does help -- particularly in removing reflections from wet leaves (as per usual). It can be quite effective to avoid expanses of fog-laden sky from the composition but if you do include them, be careful to avoid blowing out the highlights. I usually expose manually and meter on the fog/sky and place the fog at Zone 6.7 or 7 -- leaving some texture in the fog. White balance can vary dramatically as the fog conditions change. I try to remember to take a periodic image with a neutral color reference card in the scene every few images. While one does not necessarily want to achieve fully neutral color balance in post processing, having a good reference makes white balance adjustment so much easier. Be prepared to deal with fog / light mist landing on your gear -- carrying extra lens cloths and even carrying small plastic trash bags (4 gallon size) to keep over the camera between compositions. Take the time to wait and watch. Those fog conditions do shift, sometimes quickly, and waiting even a few minutes can provide you with a whole different image.
You may find you want to modify your approach to post-processing. Images of fog-shrouded scenes have somewhat limited contrast. You may not want to adjust black and white points to the limits as you might under different conditions.
Discussion
1 repliesWe live on the coast of Northern California and get quite a bit of fog here in the summertime -- especially this year! It does make a very interesting environment to shoot in and certainly conveys a sense of quiet and solitude to many images.
Things I try to do include the following. There are times when a polarizer does help -- particularly in removing reflections from wet leaves (as per usual). It can be quite effective to avoid expanses of fog-laden sky from the composition but if you do include them, be careful to avoid blowing out the highlights. I usually expose manually and meter on the fog/sky and place the fog at Zone 6.7 or 7 -- leaving some texture in the fog. White balance can vary dramatically as the fog conditions change. I try to remember to take a periodic image with a neutral color reference card in the scene every few images. While one does not necessarily want to achieve fully neutral color balance in post processing, having a good reference makes white balance adjustment so much easier. Be prepared to deal with fog / light mist landing on your gear -- carrying extra lens cloths and even carrying small plastic trash bags (4 gallon size) to keep over the camera between compositions. Take the time to wait and watch. Those fog conditions do shift, sometimes quickly, and waiting even a few minutes can provide you with a whole different image.
You may find you want to modify your approach to post-processing. Images of fog-shrouded scenes have somewhat limited contrast. You may not want to adjust black and white points to the limits as you might under different conditions.
Enjoy your trip "down east" to Maine.
Frank
www.edgelightimages.com