Ever since I became interested in photography I have enjoyed fog images. There was something about them that spoke to me. For that very same reason, I’ve wanted to try my own hand at photographing in fog.
Now, like other kinds of weather-related phenomena, very specific conditions are required for fog to form. Fog, clouds, will form anytime the humidity reaches 100%. Normally this only happens a few thousand feet above ground where moisture laden air cools to the point that the dew point and temperature converge. However, specific conditions can allow the fog to form at ground level. In the Midwest, where there is little variation in terrain height or large bodies of water to aid the formation of fog, we have to rely on a kind of fog called radiation fog. This type forms when the ground cools faster than the air further up in the atmosphere creating what’s known as an inversion. This condition keeps the saturated, moist air close to the ground. Also for this reason, fog seems to form in natural depressions, where the terrain helps contain the saturated air. While I understand the conditions necessary for fog to form, I’m not the best at predicting them. For this reason, I watch the weather reports the night before.
A few months ago, the stars aligned and I found what I was looking for in the next morning’s weather report, “possible wide-spread fog,” on a weekend morning. For that reason I packed my camera bag, set my alarm, and the next morning, found myself “in the soup” in downtown Stillwater. Below are a few examples of my images. Feel free to post any comments you might have!