On Sunday, I visited the Dartmoor National Park. I was excited to take quite a few photos, as there are plenty of amazing things to see. These include free-roaming semi-wild ponies, sheep, horses, and cattle. There are also eight major, man-made reservoirs plus many more interesting areas to visit. As we drove nearer to where we had planned to start, there was something that I realised may well potentially scupper my plans - and that was the fog. And this was not your usual early morning type of fog, which soon disappears; this was a thick, dense fog which was more than likely to stay around for many hours, if not the whole day.
I was not going to let this stop me, though. It was simply a case of making a few adjustments to the usual way I take photographs.
Reasons to still take photos when it's very foggy
Fog is one of those bits of weather that most people complain about, especially if they were planning to go out and take photos. Everything suddenly looks washed out, and you can’t see very far. It’s tempting to just wait for a clear day instead.
But if you’ve got a camera with you, fog can actually make things far more interesting.
The main reason is that fog simplifies the scene. On a normal day, there’s often far too much going on in the background – buildings, signs, cars, wires, you name it. When the fog rolls in, a lot of that disappears into the distance. What you’re left with is usually a much cleaner photograph.
One thing I often look for in fog is a single subject that stands on its own. A tree in a field works brilliantly. So does a person walking down a quiet path. Even something simple like a park bench can look surprisingly atmospheric when everything behind it fades into the mist.
Another nice thing about fog is the way it creates natural layers. If there are trees, fences, or hills in the distance, you’ll often see them gradually fading away one after another. The closest one is dark and sharp, the next one a bit softer, and the ones further away almost disappear completely. It’s a really simple way to add depth to a photograph without doing anything complicated.
Morning is usually the best time for this sort of thing. Fog tends to sit around early in the day before the sun burns it off. Sometimes the sun will start pushing through the mist as well, which can create those lovely streaks of light coming through branches or buildings.
Street lights can look great, too, if you happen to be in a town or village. In fog, they glow much more than usual, which adds a bit of warmth to the scene.
One small thing to watch out for is exposure. Cameras sometimes get confused by fog because there’s so much pale grey in the frame. The result can be a photo that looks darker than it did in real life. If that happens, just brighten the exposure slightly, and it usually sorts itself out.
To be honest, foggy days often produce photos that feel a bit more atmospheric than bright sunny ones. Everything becomes quieter and simpler.
So next time you wake up and the world outside looks like it’s disappeared into mist, it might actually be the perfect moment to grab the camera and head out.