Sometimes, the best things happen when we don’t plan them at all. It goes for many things in life, and photos are no exception. Michael Shainblum recently had to change his shooting plans and it led him to seeing the Milky Way above the Golden Gate Bridge bathing in fog. He was certain it would be impossible to capture the scene, but he gave it a shot – and he nailed it! Michael shared his adventure in his recent video, along with some gorgeous photos he took, which he also kindly shared with DIYP.
Telephoto landscape photography above the clouds
Who says you have to choose between film and digital? Certainly not Michael Shainblum who takes us behind the scenes in this beautiful video while he captures telephoto images of landscapes in golden hour fog.
Here’s how to predict fog for your landscape photos
Foggy mornings make many people want to stay inside under a blanket. But if you’re a photographer, they are more likely to make you grab your gear and go outside. Fog gives your photos a whole new dimension and you may want to use every occasion to shoot in these conditions. So, can you predict when the weather will be foggy? The short answer is yes, and Adrian of aows will tell you how in this video.
7 ideas to take your Autumn landscape photos to the next level
Summer is finally over (for those of us who live in hot countries and hate hot weather this is a definite yeah!) and it’s pumpkin spice latte season again, otherwise known as Fall. In this video Toma Bonciu, or Photo Tom as he’s known, gives us a few tips on how you can take advantage of this time of year to take beautiful Autumn landscapes. And there’s not a decorative gourd in sight.
This stunning, eerie photo was shot as a single exposure
Even though Flickr has gone through so many changes, I still haven’t left it. And from time to time, this platform helps me to discover photos that steal all my attention. So, when I opened the front page a few days ago, I saw a photo named Downside Up and it made my jaw drop. It was taken by Tim Gamble, a photographer and a UK Brand Ambassador for Light Painting Brushes.
After staring at this impressive photo for a while, and opening it again the following morning, I knew I needed to know more. So, I got in touch with Tim. He kindly shared the photo with DIYP and told us how it was taken: entirely in-camera, at a single exposure!
How we made a landscape photo with fog machine and won an award for it
I needed a landscape photo of a foggy forest on sunny day, where beams of sunlight were streaming through the trees and creating beautiful sun rays. The only problem was that it was summer and there was no fog to be had.
So I decided to rent a fog machine and see if we could make enough fog to simulate real fog. For this task I enlisted the help of my friend Chris Collacott, and together we created a pretty cool image. Here is how we did it.
The Fogtographer
Justin Rosenberg is a photographer who loves fog! But that’s not all he shoots, in his own words he says ‘In my images, I aim to convey a sense of that hope in the struggle. Much of my work focuses on a single subject relating to a seemingly harsh/sparse environment. I’m often drawn to the natural world as a setting; particularly cold, foggy, and gloomy scenes. I find there to be a beautiful vulnerability in the loneliness and isolation of a subject in a harsh/sparse spaces.
Though fog is not in all of my work (mainly due to my lack of ability to control the weather), whenever possible, I try to incorporate it. Fog forces you to be in the present moment. In any direction, you can only see for a just a little bit, so all you’re left with is exactly what is happening in that moment. You can look in front of you, but you can’t see the future. You can look behind you, and you’re not defined by the past. You’re just exactly where you are, right where you need to be, right when you need to be there.’
How to stop your lenses from fogging up and why you need to
Lenses fogging up usually isn’t a big problem for me here in the UK. But it is a problem I’ve faced while shooting in warmer climates. You go from a nice cool air conditioned building to the hot and humid outdoors and there it goes. Within 10 seconds, your lens is virtually impossible to see through.
If your lens is weather sealed, it’s just a waiting game for it to clear up. If it’s not, you can face long term consequences. This two minute tips video from David Bergman offers several ways to prevent fog on your lenses when you change environments.
Aerial Perspective – The depth your images have been consciously missing.
Something I’m going to be touching on today is referred to in the painting world as “Aerial Perspective”, a way, if not “the” way to create depth in your images. When you see pictures of mountains, or landscapes you’ll often notice that they are coated with fog, clouds, smoke, steam, etc in order to make the background appear further away.
How to create shafts of light in-camera in your photos and video
Adding shafts of light to your photos in post is pretty common, but doing it in camera is even easier. All it takes is a little know how and maybe a smoke machine.
In this video from The Slanted Lens, Jay P. Morgan walks us through the whole process. He talks about the advantages of continuous lights vs. flash and other issues you may run into.
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