Foggy mornings

[crazydadguy]

Does anyone have any tips for shooting in the fog? I have tried on several occasions to take some nice foggy morning shots, but they all tend to turn out grainy, with it looking more like noise than fog.

 

[ukcatfan]

Could you post a sample. That at first sounds like high ISO noise causing it.

Kevin

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Samples would definitely help.

The high ISO explanation is a good one. Fog and early morning sound like low light situations. The camera needs to either keep the lens open longer (slower shutter speed), open the lens wider (wider aperture), or be more sensitive to light (high ISO).

 

[bostran1]

Samples would definitely help.

The high ISO explanation is a good one. Fog and early morning sound like low light situations. The camera needs to either keep the lens open longer (slower shutter speed), open the lens wider (wider aperture), or be more sensitive to light (high ISO).

I was going to say the same thing. I would give a longer shutter speed a shot and see how it goes. Of course, you will need a tripod or need to rest your camera on something to avoid shake.

 

[crazydadguy]

Sorry about that, didnt have time to upload this morning due to a dance recital. I had a tripod setup, and a 1/4 shutter speed. Should I have went with a second or two for the shutter?

 

[ukcatfan]

The EXIF shows ISO 400, which is very high for a p&s camera. With a tripod, you should be able to use your lowest ISO and the grain should go away. I could not quickly tell what mode you were shooting in, but you should try a manual mode if available.

Kevin

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Fog shots are odd. Two of the most popular shots on my smugmug site are fog shots that I personally don't like and almost deleted.

ISO 1250, 1/640, f/5.6, 29mm (38mm equiv)

ISO 500, 1/320, f/6.3, 30mm (39mm equiv)

 

[10dedfish]

Any luck with the fog shots yet mark?

 

[crazydadguy]

I just don't understand. ISO400 is set by the camera unless I do it totally manual. I think I had it in Shutter priority mode, so the camera chose the 400. What I dont understand is, the two foggy pics posted by MarkBarbieri, one has a really high iso and one just a little higher than what I used, and neither turned out grainy. I guess I just need more practice shooting in the fog. Thanks guys.

10ded, nope no fog this morning.

 

[alan]

Crazydadguy,

I don't know anything about your camera, but I do know that Mark has spent a lot of money on a camera that can look noise-free at ISO500 and above. The kind of photographic equipment I can reasonably afford would not look as good as his at ISO 500...

Sounds to me as if you do need to go totally manual, if that's what the camera forces you to do. With every camera, you want to keep the ISO as low as possible for the shots you're taking - that rule is all the more important on small-sensor digital cameras.

regards,
/alan

 

[crazydadguy]

That makes alot of sense, I would rather (this sounds stupid) take the blame as a fault of my own, rather than blame the equipment, because that sounds like a cop out to me. But, yeah, my camera is no where near anything Mark has. One of the things I have to remember is to learn your camera, not everyone else's. Thanks!

 

[10dedfish]

Remember your still better at it than I am.

10ded

 

[SharonLowe]

That makes alot of sense, I would rather (this sounds stupid) take the blame as a fault of my own, rather than blame the equipment, because that sounds like a cop out to me. But, yeah, my camera is no where near anything Mark has. One of the things I have to remember is to learn your camera, not everyone else's. Thanks!

I would guess that there is a way to set your iso at something different (lower) than 400. 400 is very high for any p&s and many dSLRs too. Most of what I see in your image is luminance noise which most noise software can handle pretty well. Even Adobe Camera Raw in CS3 does quite well with that type of noise.

Your image looks dark too - you probably need to overexpose it a bit in your camera.

 

[crazydadguy]

What do you mean by luminance noise? I'm guessing its noise caused by light reflecting off the water vapor in the air. You say this rectifiable with some of the photo editing software out there? Thanks, I'll check into that.

 

[10dedfish]

WOW I even understood what he said. I must be learning something. I set my ISO down to 100, and will start using the trip0d that santa is bringing me for Christmas.
10ded

 

[SharonLowe]

What do you mean by luminance noise? I'm guessing its noise caused by light reflecting off the water vapor in the air. You say this rectifiable with some of the photo editing software out there? Thanks, I'll check into that.

Luminance noise is like camera grain - fairly uniform in texture and grain throughout the image. Color (or Chroma) noise is well, color, and it is not uniform at all. Noise reduction programs can get rid of both to some extent though you will lose some sharpness. Adobe Camera Raw has sliders for both types.

Your image likely has both color and luminance noise but hard to tell with small web images. Underexposed images tend to have more noise than properly exposed images too especially when you try to bring them up to proper exposure. Longer exposures will also produce noise; how much depends on your camera. My Canon 1DsMkII can take very long night exposures (we're talking many minutes, not seconds) with very low noise at low ISOs. Cooler temps are a camera's best friend when it comes to less noise for long exposures.

 

[crazydadguy]

Hey guys, as an update, here is a foggy morning pics I took the other day. 10dedfish, you have already seen it...

 

[poppyolivia]

those are really great..nice and sharp...I've got ALOT of practising to do to get half as good as those!!!