Mist and fog

[Kerry]

Hi everyone

How do you compensate when taking photos in mist or fog. I live near to the coast and we are frequently shrouded in hazy mist/fog and photos just seem to turn out dead pan and grey. Is there a way to bring them more to life? I took some today though didn't manage to get any birds only landscape; a couple can be seen here:

Landscapes

The hills just come out as a murky grey on one and the other also isn't good. On some of the photos where the mist was closer to, the photos just looked as though I had a dirty lens. I see other photos that really portray the atmosphere of fog/mist, how do they do it?

Many thanks
Kerry

[eeyore]

generally speaking the trick is to look for paterns and tonal variations such as trees looming out of the fog or hill sides where each appears to be a different shade of grey - also look for lighting such as shafts of light breaking through the fog , lights twinkling in it etc

another powerful option in the right country is to shott from above the mist - for instance in a range of hills you can get mist in the valleys but not on the tops which can make for a nice contrast - explained that really badly but see sixth shot down here for an example Lee Frost Gallery Landscapes - Colour

finally a lot of seaside shots that appear to show mist are actually very long exposures and the "mist" is actually the waves breaking and receding - a nice trick but you need a tripod and a waterproof cover for the camera (salt spray and cameras definitely do not mix )

if you want to learn more about landscape photography i highly reccomend "first light" by joe cornish http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/re...uct/417/cat/68 at 25 notes its not cheap but it is worth it for the photos alone and also has loads of easilly accessible photographic hints

[nightshade]

I think it was a question of lack of contrast some of
the large square filter makers have filters to enhance
fog.An alternative is to use black and white or expose
as for snow perhaps

[Kerry]

Thank you to both of your for your replies. I shall have a look at the library for the book that was mentioned. I have already found copies of the ones mentioned for macro photography there, so hopefully that one might also be available. Photography is a very expensive past time so the more that I can borrow the better.

I shall have another go next time we get the mist and hope for better quality then.

Kerry

[nightshade]

Re. Macro books; ABE books have Lester Lefkowitz, Manual of Close Up Photography
Try 7day shop for filters etc.
If you need a bracket John Shaw’s Butterfly Bracket

[Kev Lewis]

The camera exposure meter will try to average the scene to a mid grey. To correctly expose for white you should over expose by 1/2-1 stop. For a true black you should under expose

[Kerry]

Originally Posted by nightshade

Re. Macro books; ABE books have Lester Lefkowitz, Manual of Close Up Photography
Try 7day shop for filters etc.
If you need a bracket John Shaw’s Butterfly Bracket

Thanks for this info. I have never heard of the 7day shop before but just found them on the internet and will have a look. The book would certainly come in handy: I definitely need help improving my macro shots.

Kerry

[Kerry]

Originally Posted by Kev Lewis

The camera exposure meter will try to average the scene to a mid grey. To correctly expose for white you should over expose by 1/2-1 stop. For a true black you should under expose

Thank you for this info. I shall make a note of it and keep with my camera kit for when I go out. Hopefully next time I won't take 200 useless photos.

Kerry