Foggy morning

[Warren Spreng]

Not sure how this one will go over, but it represents the morning walk well. We were in the midst of an ice fog so I decided to make the best of it by taking a walk. Some pretty fascinating stuff, with icy spider webs, ghostly trees hiding in the fog bank, actually a really peaceful time. About 11:00 AM EST, Canon T3i, Canon EF-S18-130mm, 18mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/2000, HH, AF. I was a bit surprised at the SS as dark as it seemed I guess the scattered light was why I needed the higher SS. Adjustments in LR and PS CC, actually lowered the highlights to bring the trees out a bit more. I think I have a lot to learn about processing a "foggy" image! There is a bit of magenta in the downsized jpg that does not show in the full res, and I made sure to save for Web so the settings would be OK. Not sure why the tint. Also a bit noisier than the full res.

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[Diane Miller]

Lovely!! The concepts of ice and fog are not in the same pigeonhole for me -- it would be 50 degrees F (maybe 45) if I shot a scene like this out here on the left coast.

I really like it, though -- I find similar scenes several places out here. I love the repetition of the group of trees further back in the fog.

Foggy images can be tricky -- the thing to do is expose to the right and bring down in post, as it sounds like you did. The result looks fine to me.

A couple of suggestions, though. The trees look a bit soft. You had plenty of shutter speed and the ISO should be fine -- maybe the lens or AF is a bit off? And I'd lower contrast toward the bottom of the frame -- the dark shadows there pull by eye away from the lovely detail in the scene. As I have done here, with a masked curve, pulling up the LL point and then pulling down the middle a bit.

I'd also remove the lighter post toward the right, although I didn't. (Ha -- got right right this time!)

[Don Railton]

Hi Warren

Foggy images done wrong can often not look like fog.... No problem here though, this conveys what I imagine you were seeing/feeling very well I think. My initial thoughts were that there is a bit of imbalance in the brightness between left and right, ie RHS FG is just a little dark. Why is that important, well I think a more balanced luminosity lets the eye flow around the image freely. For me really dark areas or light areas draw the eye to it all too easily and hold it there. You said you lowered the highlights, I think that is good, maybe you could have lifted the dark's very slightly also...Be subtle here, because noise will increase.. I like Diane's suggestion of pulling back the contrast locally using a reverse 'S' curve..I think it will do the same thing, but probably better..

DON

[Warren Spreng]

Great suggestions, just what I was looking for!! Glad to see that it did convey the overall mood and feeling of the scene. I'll go back to the original and play a bit more, thanks for pointing out that post Diane, now that you did it really stands out in my eye!!

Don, I see what you mean about how the different brightnesses draw the eye, looking at it after stepping away I notice that I am totally drawn to the left of the image towards the much lighter side.

Thanks!

[Diane Miller]

Looking at it again, I don't mind the lighter part to the left to draw attention, because to me, those lighter trees, further in the mist, are the most interesting part. But the heavier trees toward the center and right are a bit dark and low in contrast. I wondered if I could bring them up a little without losing the misty look. What do you think?

I did a soft-edged quick mask and made a Curves layer, which it masked. Then I brought up the center of the curve, holding down the dark end just a little.

[Warren Spreng]

Looking at it again, I don't mind the lighter part to the left to draw attention, because to me, those lighter trees, further in the mist, are the most interesting part. But the heavier trees toward the center and right are a bit dark and low in contrast. I wondered if I could bring them up a little without losing the misty look. What do you think?

I did a soft-edged quick mask and made a Curves layer, which it masked. Then I brought up the center of the curve, holding down the dark end just a little.

That looks pretty much what I came up with when I re-worked it but then I found another frame where the trees were in better focus but haven't had time to try and work that one to get the same look and feel as this one. The location of everything is just a little different and I am having difficulty getting the exact same "feel"! Will post when I get it where I like it.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Warren, I really like the scene and good suggestions above but for me the softness of the trees is taking away from the nicely composed scene.

[Warren Spreng]

Hi Warren, I really like the scene and good suggestions above but for me the softness of the trees is taking away from the nicely composed scene.
I agree about the softness Andrew, when I get some time I have another shot from the sequence where the trees are sharper, just having difficulty capturing the same mood as in this one. It is from a slightly different perspective. Will RP if I can tweak it a bit more.

[Warren Spreng]

Here is a slightly different angle that I shot, sharper trees, thoughts?

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