A Walk in Night Fog

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Yesterday morning I woke and looked out of a window and saw fog. For some, the reaction is "oh zut alors" as we think that we're in for several weeks of being under the clouds, with the mountains as a weekend escape from a sun deprived time spent in fog.

An Indirect Walk

I took it as an opportunity. I could have walked from A to B last night. Instead I walked my usual walk. Along the way I looked for interesting photo opportunities. The fog was thick, and you could see water droplets floating in the air near lights.

With some apartments, with especially brilliant lights there was an interesting line to demarcate where the light's rays could reach, and where it was out of range.

The Cone of Light

On the walk home I played with the flashlight and clouds. I noticed that I could indicate where I was, with a cone of light pointing down to where I was. I could also see clearly where the light no longer lit the droplets of water in suspension in the air.

Now, back to the apartments. In some cases, where there was just one or two windows, the limit of lit and unlit fog was clear, and it made for an interesting sight.

Two apartment windows projecting light onto a tree

Apartments Lighting Water Droplets

In one case the light from two apartment windows lit the sky behind a tree so well that it was nicely silhouetted against the night sky. There were several such opportunities.

Another person noticed how these same light rays were visible where light from a street lamp split the light rays, highlighting what remained in shade, and what was lit. If I had taken the time I could have got a similar photo on numerous occasions.

And Finally

Whilst it is easy to see fog in the morning, and regret that it is foggy, fog is a good opportunity to get original photos. It is as good as when we see a beautiful sunrise or sunset, except that the opportunity to take photos lasts for an entire day and into the night. As I write this we have dull lighting today, great for portraits, but flat and uninteresting for landscape photos.