Photo Essay on a Foggy Day
What do you do when the day presents itself to you so white that you like through the window and the only thing that you see is a white blanket? You go out and take advantage of the mood to capture objects and scenes with a different vision, of course!
You can go exactly to the same places you have already gone many times and you can face the same things you are tired of coming across almost daily. No doubt, fog transforms everything, obliterates some parts, reveals others and brings a gloomy, almost an eerie aspect to everything.
With these ideas in mind, I drove and walked around for hours before the fog disappeared, selecting how to combine fog and a scene in the same frame. It takes time and I had fun having my time to take some pictures of this distinct moment!
While wandering here and there, I was thinking I would convert everything to black and white to give the pictures an even more dark impact but I did not like the result. Actually, by empowering some colors and darkening other parts, I think I created a chill and mysterious visual to the scenes.
Enjoy the fun of this essay!
Across the river, this building seems to be located on an island, with a “foot” on the water and with the “head” on the clouds. That is, taller than it really is.
The brick colored building forms a cross with the horizon and brings some life to the scene. This is a situation where the black and white rendering would not work very well because of the general flat aspect of the image only broken by the bricks.
This tree just presented itself right behind some bushes that were blocking my vision of this clear space. The tree was in isolation, ready for the shot. All I needed to do was to choose the proper angle and done! Not really, as I inspected the background and experimented some ideas before getting to this point. Trouble was, what seemed to be the best angle was right on top of some kind of a wet ditch which pushed me to improvise sitting on the ground and the feet over the ditch. I hope it worked out nicely.
Facing the clear space, the well paved road was disappearing in the fog. The only sign that there was “life” down there were the cars rushing in my direction. I had to be careful in properly setting the camera and shooting before a car would be too close and honk at me (actually, one did).
I loved the result as the cars seem to zoom past me out to the picture. This impression is enhanced by the streaks formed by the tires rolling over the moist on the road and its guides.
Is there life beyond that point?
It seems that this tree is checking what lies down in the river because above the water nothing can be seen. One could almost imagine its roots sensing the water below…
The rock is there on purpose to add a character to this story, just like the puddle in the middle of the path way. The couple does not seem to be concerned about the difficulties of life (represented by these two obstacles), all surrounded by the dark vision of the scene.
A scene approximately the same as before but cleared of obstacles, ready for the traffic of people.
On the other hand, the grey tones and the gloomy mood comes down with a strong impetus as there is no human warmth visible.
The empty soccer field, no markings on the ground, the naked goal frame… And the sole spectators were the trees, naked too. I am wondering whether these trees paid their tickets to watch a match that would not happen until next Summer?
Aren’t we all anxiously expecting to find some sunlight behind this row of trees? Are we afraid of crossing this dark line to be benefited from the radiance of light?
There is a chilly sense of desperation here with the grey moment and the road leading to nowhere in an isolated place.
I liked the leading lines forming triangles surrounding the cyclist that goes to a place not explicitly shown on the picture. There is some degree of uncertainty here which brings some air of mystery.
Another road leading to nowhere. This time, there is no traffic because it is closed in preparation for the Winter that did not arrive yet (regularly, at this time of the year in this region, this road would be covered with snow with temperatures below zero; Life is now different though due to, we believe, the Global Warming).
This is the end of our story, in the hope that the Sun would shine again soon!