Chasing the Fog
by Dipanjan Chakraborty
I have been chasing the fog for the last few years. Fog is such a gallant thing which mesmerizes me the most. After welcoming winter, I get up early in the morning and go out with my camera to capture the mystic and foggy Kolkata maidan. People's activity, horses, and sunrise through dense fog attract me again and again.
Mist and fog are wonderfully atmospheric and dreamy phenomena to photograph. They can be poetic, romantic, haunting, and quietly spectacular. But they can also be challenging and unpredictable.
Mist and fog move constantly can disappear in an instant, and have a very ephemeral quality that can easily result in flat, bland images. Capturing them perfectly takes a lot of practice and experimentation, which is why the process can be so rewarding for the photographer willing to study their qualities and adopt a patient, exploratory mindset.
So what are the most helpful techniques photographers can use to capture great images of mist and fog? Well, here, we will cover the basic conditions in which mist and fog differ and go through some key aesthetic considerations, illustrating each point with inspiring imagery.
1. Understand mist and fog
Mist and fog are both clouds that are less dense than the ones you see in the sky. While many tend to interchange the terms, they actually differ in density and longevity and, most importantly, visibility. Because mist is less dense than fog, it lasts shorter and allows visibility as far as 2 km. Meanwhile, you might be able to see only as far as 1 km in fog.
2. Plan Your Shoot
As with other genres of photography, planning your shoot is important in capturing mist and fog. Without a plan, time and effort could be wasted. Weather, location, camera settings, and gear are especially important factors to consider in your shoot.
Weather
Because mist and fog can quickly dissipate, timing is important to get right. Weather forecasts are excellent for planning purposes. Most weather sites specifically predict mist, but if the one you’re using doesn't, just keep an eye on the predicted visibility.
Exposure
Conditions may change very quickly, and a camera will often be confused by the diffused light, so you need to know how to manually set exposure. Familiarize yourself before the shoot by trying out different exposure settings in varied light conditions.
Gear
Aside from your camera, a long lens, a tripod, and wet-weather gear will be useful in capturing mist and fog. Those using an SLR camera will find a wider angle useful. Otherwise, bring a long lens to emphasize the depth of the image. A tripod, meanwhile, will come in handy if you want to play around with exposure settings. And you will need wet-weather gear, including something to clean the lens with, when it gets wet.
3. Enhance colours and details
Mist and fog act as giant diffusers, so contrast and colour will often be quite low, and this can easily make images look a bit lifeless. You need to look at the things that you can adjust to liven them up.
Weather
Because mist and fog can quickly dissipate, timing is important to get right. Weather forecasts are excellent for planning purposes. Most weather sites specifically predict mist, but if the one you’re using doesn't, just keep an eye on the predicted visibility.
Colour
Further, there is precious little colour in many misty scenes, so it’s important to keep an eye on the auto colour balance. Auto white balance (AWB) is best when trying to capture the cool blue of an early morning. If unsure, just try out different settings. The best bet, however, is to shoot in RAW, so you can post-process your photos without losing too much detail.
Lighting
In fog and mist, you can also expect to find only little light, which will consequently soften contrast—sometimes, a little too much. To add contrast, shoot in a location with the light in or near the edge of the frame.
Note that mist and fog look particularly good when illuminated from behind, and one of the most spectacular lighting effects can be seen when the sunlight is strong enough to peek through a thin mist and create shadows. In cityscapes, street lights and advertising boards can be used as great sources of color and light.
4. Compose the image creatively
It is all too easy to get caught up in the technical demands of shooting mist. In creative terms, the most exciting part often lies in composing the image. The primary challenge here is to avoid a flat or washed out look in the image, which you can do by exploring some of the following:
Layering
The strongest images of mist and fog usually have a strong sense of depth, which is created by thinking of the image in terms of layers. This layered effect can be created by including elements of interest very close to the camera, in the middle ground, and in the background. A long lens can also be used to strengthen this impression.
Silhouetting
Mist and fog will often reduce the color, details, and textures of objects to mere outlines. This is why misty images can often look dull, but this effect can also be used to introduce a lot of drama and contrast to the image. Just expose for the highlights and create pin-sharp dark silhouettes. Have a look at the surfers in this image, for example.
Contrasting
Subjects with contrasting textures can also add a flair to your photos. For example, including rough edged cliffs or even boulders within the frame will emphasize the soft, watery texture of mist and fog.
Simplifying
Finally, a misty scene doesn’t need to be crammed with information. In fact, the best thing about mist and fog is that they force the photographer to use large areas of white space and embrace the delicate power of a minimalist aesthetic. A misty scene may even provide inspiration for a semi-abstract image.
5. Post process photos
Despite all best efforts, most images will still need some post-production work to increase contrast and color. If using Lightroom, work with the sharpening and dehaze filter. Also try playing around with saturation, contrast, and sharpness. No matter what program or app you use, it’s best to work on a duplicate version of the original image because it’s far too easy to overwork the image. After all, the most appealing thing about mist is that it’s a delicate, subtle subject.
Much of the time photographing mist and fog involves venturing out in the early hours of dawn, patiently fiddling around with your camera, and accepting unpredictable results, and for some, that’s what makes photography so much fun anyway—the real magic of the process.
I am Dipanjan Chakrborty. I am a Kolkata-based street and documentary photographer. I have been documenting Kolkata for the last few years. As a photographer, my perspective remains to explore street photography as a key to reaching the common people and their lives. I love to tell stories through my lens. Every frame tells a story but when we create a story within a frame, it makes the frame more beautiful. After being a street and documentary photographer my course of life has entirely changed. I started photography in my childhood. But I have had a craze for photography since my childhood, whenever I could get a mobile or camera from anyone I would always try to capture my surrounding people and their daily life. I love to see photos daily, in social media I used to watch various kinds of pictures from different countries and different photographers that helped me to increase my knowledge. When I make a plan to go out for a shoot at first I used to make research that particular subject or project on which I am going to do my work, then I used to make a plan on that particular place and time when my shoot takes place, because time is more important in street photography. But sometimes when I go out with my equipment I capture various candid moments on the street I am using a Sony A6000 mirrorless camera right now. I have used a DSLR earlier but mirrorless is giving me such a great output, especially in low light mirrorless is a revolution.
I think a picture is captured in our brain, a camera is just a device to print that image which has been captured in my brain. That's why many times I make plans for my shots and I make the composition in my mind. But sometimes the picture comes out without any plan because there are lots of candid moments in the street which are constantly creating. I like both colour and black & white pictures. But I feel that colour image portrays the nature and colourful clothes of people but black and white image portrays the soul of the people. I do not give much time to post-processing, I do post-processing a little bit like retouching but nothing more than that.