I love fog. Clearly, I'm not alone. Instagram is rife with hashtags for foggy photos. #Sombrescapes has over 215,000 posts so far, but the plain and simple #fog is the hands-down winner with five million photos and climbing. Fog fans unite!
I'm not sure what my fondness for fog reveals about me, but I do have a few good guesses:
As an introvert, I love the feeling of venturing out into the world but remaining relatively unseen. Walking through the fog is the opposite of standing in the spotlight. It's like the real-life equivalent of Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak. Fog lets me slip into something more comfortable.
On a foggy day, everything looks "painterly." That's a word my art history professors tossed around whenever they'd discuss a landscape painting that didn't look like a real view out a real window, but like a painting on an easel. Painterly landscapes were the opposite of photo realism; they were more poetic than literal.
One of the worst times to go out with a camera for landscape shots is noon on a sunny, cloudless day. From a visual standpoint, it can teeter dangerously on the rim of "boring." But on a foggy day, there's a certain mystery in the air, a moodiness. Fog adds an instant filter to your pictures, no Hipstamatic necessary.
Fog is film noir, not documentary.
Fog heightens your senses. You can almost feel the weight of air.
Fog whispers to us, "Slow down...look closer."
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Before you go...
My newest online photography course is right around the corner--starting 1/30/17! No fancy camera necessary--you can even use your smart phone. If you'd like to add more beauty and mindfulness to your days, all the details are here: Soul Focus: Finding Peace Through Photography. If you're on Instagram, get a $10 discount on the e-course by clicking the link in my profile here.
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