When it's too foggy for Photos

Brian G

Brian G

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Presented with a foggy early morning out in the suburbs on Sunday morning, I jumped on the train into central London, in the hope that the fog would persist long enough for some interesting shots.
Halfway to London the sun came out and there was blue sky and I thought I'd blown it.
The last part of the journey was underground, and when I left London Bridge station at about 9 am and walked to the river, I found the fog had descended again and you couldn't see across the Thames to the other side.

I thought it was too foggy for photos, and it wasn't the sort of effect I was really looking for, but I took a selection in the hope that a few of them looked reasonable.

Comments and critique welcome...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/zDbDFE]LondonFog_01 by Brian Gibson, on [/URL]
Flickr

LondonFog_02 by Brian Gibson, on Flickr

Eventually the fog started to lift, but it never really cleared.

LondonFog_03 by Brian Gibson, on Flickr

LondonFog_04 by Brian Gibson, on Flickr
 
I think the second one works well, with the boat coming out of the fog like that. Maybe a moody black and white conversion would improve it...not sure. Also a slight CCW rotation to straighten up the towers would be good. Ultimately though, it has a lot of potential in my opinion. The rest...not so much.
 
Thanks for the comments.
I considered making them black and white, but they are almost that already.

I only noticed the second one was slightly tilted after I uploaded it - I'm usually pretty careful about such things.
Here is a corrected version. (Also added a touch of the "Clarity" slider)

LondonFog_02 by Brian Gibson, on Flickr
 
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I like the first one but to me, they are screaming out to be in black & white!! :) Maybe something like this (hope you don't mind)?

22080561584_19b699410b_o.jpg

I think you might need to give your sensor a bit of a clean as well! :)
 
Thanks for the comments.

I don't mind your edit but personally I don't usually do b&w, since I think it usually takes away more than it adds.
Life is lived in colour, and I prefer to see it that way.

It wasn't until I had a smooth even grey background that I realised how dirty the sensor had become - it will be attended to.
Kind of disappointing, since this particular camera is only 4 months old and is not even my main camera, although I do swap lenses quite frequently.
OTOH I was very impressed with the speed of focussing on such low contrast subjects.
 
The reason I left the foreground in was because I wanted something that wasn't lost in the mist, to give some more depth to the picture.
 
Bazza said:
If this was somewhere in an exotic location it might be fine, unfortunately the colour of the Thames isn't that exotic :hungover: Nice set though!
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Yes, unfortunately I know exactly what you mean regarding the colour of the Thames, and it always seems worse (i.e.muddier) at low tide.
Thanks for the comments.
 
I think B&W works well with a landmark like Tower Bridge. Thames is usually fairly dull and muddy, but a long exposure at dusk with lights from the buildings makes it more appealing.
 
Real spooky with loads of atmosphere. Love em.
 
•
Brian, when the photographic aspect of a picture won't suit your idea,
you are rightfully free to explore eventual imagery inputs!
… and even run wild!
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•
Brian, when the photographic aspect of a picture won't suit your idea,
you are rightfully free to explore eventual imagery inputs!
… and even run wild!
Click to expand...

I don't quite understand your post. I know a lot of us pre-visualise what we want to capture on the camera and produce but when the weather conditions and lighting don't cater for this previsualised idea, you just shoot what you can? Is that what you mean?
 
try the dehaze filter in lightroom ;-) in all seriousness I think it captures the fog really nicely
 
ST4 said:
I don't quite understand your post. I know a lot of us pre-visualise what we want to capture on the camera and produce but when the weather conditions and lighting don't cater for this previsualised idea, you just shoot what you can? Is that what you mean?
Click to expand...
•
I mean that these heavy fog shots are not to be discarded but maybe considered
as cool candidate to imagery and some creative imagination.

CSN sang in the ol'days:
If you can't be with the one you love
Honey, love the one you're with!
 
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ST4 said:
…Different things for different people.
Click to expand...
•
Different things for different creative people that is… as it's not
everyone's cup of tea! Imagery is an own art form!
 
4 is the standout by a mile.

1 - Foreground has no interest whatsoever and to be honest neither does the bridge until Mike's crop and I think it must be B&W otherwise I'd bin it.
2 - Just a bit too misty and I'd crop up from the bottom a little bit as the brown water is rather, well brown. Would work better in B&W too.
3 - Much more interest as the fog is lifting and pretty nice composition, think I'd have framed it to keep the tree out of the left hand side
4 - Lovely shot, strong composition with interesting foreground and the fog is at just the right level so we can see the bridge for interest yet still know it's foggy.

I'm not sure I buy the "we see in colour" argument because we don't see in the same was as a camera full stop so EVERY photograph we take isn't an accurate representation of how we see. And besides, from an artistic point of view B&W works very well in many many instances.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•
I mean that these heavy fog shots are not to be discarded but maybe considered
as cool candidate to imagery and some creative imagination.

CSN sang in the ol'days:
If you can't be with the one you love
Honey, love the one you're with!
Click to expand...
Actually it was a Stephen Stills solo song, from his debut, self titled solo album.

Nawty said:
4 is the standout by a mile.

1 - Foreground has no interest whatsoever and to be honest neither does the bridge until Mike's crop and I think it must be B&W otherwise I'd bin it.
2 - Just a bit too misty and I'd crop up from the bottom a little bit as the brown water is rather, well brown. Would work better in B&W too.
3 - Much more interest as the fog is lifting and pretty nice composition, think I'd have framed it to keep the tree out of the left hand side
4 - Lovely shot, strong composition with interesting foreground and the fog is at just the right level so we can see the bridge for interest yet still know it's foggy.

I'm not sure I buy the "we see in colour" argument because we don't see in the same was as a camera full stop so EVERY photograph we take isn't an accurate representation of how we see. And besides, from an artistic point of view B&W works very well in many many instances.
Click to expand...
As the the title of this thread suggests, I considered the conditions TOO foggy for photography that morning, and I posted the shots as examples of why I thought that way.
I think fog can provide interesting photographic opportunities but none of the photos I took that day were very inspiring and none captured the sort of effect I was looking for.

I don't subscribe to the "If it's black & white then it must be artistic" viewpoint either.
 
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Brian G said:
Actually it was a Stephen Stills solo song, from his debut, self titled solo album.
Click to expand...
Cool Brian, I will refresh those memories… interesting weekend ahead!

Brian G said:
I don't subscribe to the "If it's black & white then it must be artistic" viewpoint either.
Click to expand...
+1
 
Personally I prefer No.1 of them all - although I'd have cropped out the thing floating in the water :puke:.

It's got a spooky, no, not spooky, more ethereal look to it.
 
I do think the colour works better. In any case it's already quite monochromatic in feel and it nice to have those remnants of washed out colour tones. Ask these are rather beautiful shots I would say. Well done.
 
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