Fog wave over mountain ridge during sunrise
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Nov, 2020Views
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ImDatGirl
November 12, 2020
Wow! How the heck do you take such gorgeous photos? You're talent is amazing!😘
ImDatGirl
November 12, 2020
Omg I tried to save your photo on my favorites and it's appearing on my photos? Idk how to remove it? Please tell me? I'm so sorry 😞
ImDatGirl
November 12, 2020
Holy cow! Its gone now, idk how but it disappeared thank God!\nIm so sorry. I feel like a doofus!
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this picture of the so-called „fog wave“ on a small mountain range in Switzerland, not far from the French boarder. This spot used to be an army lookout point in the 1st and 2nd world war - clearly the view from up there is spectacular! This area gets a lot of fog in autumn and winter which sometimes gets dragged over these hills. Great if you get your head above the fog!Time
I anticipated how the first light of the day would come into the scene and wanted to capture the backlight coming through the fog. This meant starting a drive to the location at 4 am and a hike up to my desired spot before the first light of day.Lighting
Luckily my plan worked out perfectly. I reached the spot approximately 30 minutes before blue hour and had plenty of time to set everything up and find the right foreground. Then everything just got better by the second. The blue hour was great but when the sun came out, it enhanced the scene. Trees that pierced through the fog looked even more spectacular in the glory of the backlight and the gentle soft tones.Equipment
Nikon D850 Aperture f/14 Exposure 8s Focal length 38mm ISO 100 Gitzo Traveler tripod Remote releaseInspiration
I remember coming across a series of pictures of the fog wave quite some time ago. Although I was initially very fascinated by it, I did not give it much thought. A few years later, while checking the weather for another project I had, the forecast predicted ideal conditions for a fog wave. I quickly did some research and virtual location scouting on Google Earth and other similar programs and decided it was time to go out and take the shot!Editing
Editing this image was fairly straight forward. I did some basic post-processing in Lightroom, adding contrast and sharpening, alongside some tonal contrast. I then did a very light split-toning by cooling the darker areas and adding soft magenta tones to the brighter areas. The original picture was quite saturated and I reduced this in my final edit because I was looking for a soft, calming feel to it. Not overdoing my edit was key. When editing pictures for a long time you get carried away sometimes and can risk over-edit your images. Before I finish editing on my favorite pictures I always step away, have a cup of tea or sleep over it and then go back to do the final touches.In my camera bag
Since I usually shoot in remote and at times exposed alpine mountain environments where I spend the nights in my bivouac bag or tent, I have to pack wisely. I usually take my Nikon D850 or at times my D4, often coupled with my Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens which I also take on my climbing adventures. I usually also pack my Nikon 14-24mm and 70-200mm, depending on where I am and what shots I am after. Recently I have been using my Nikon 500mm f5.6 a lot and took some of my favourite shots of the majestic 4k-peaks. It is often tempting to mount a wide-angle lens on your camera and capture as much of a scene as possible - especially in these breathtaking mountain surroundings. However, I find that long telephoto lenses of 200mm and more work best up there. These lenses help to simplify your compositions and avoids cluttering them with too many distractions. This is why I carry my heavy, long lenses pretty much everywhere. It’s always worth the sweat and the pain. Always.Feedback
When people see my pictures they don’t often realize the effort that goes into this type of photography. I plan pictures well in advance and try to leave as little as possible to luck. It can take years for the conditions to be right to get my desired shot, and it takes hours and hours of planning and preparation: I constantly take notes of potential places and locations; I scan Google Earth; use hiking and weather forecast apps for clarity and accuracy for programs that show me where the sun, moon and milky way will be at certain times on certain days and how the light will hit the landscape around me. Often, I also call local authorities and guides to make sure the current conditions are safe enough. When climbing or crossing glaciers I hire mountain guides or when I do multi-day trips in exposed areas or off the official tracks, I always take a partner-in-crime with me, just in case.
