Photograph The Morning Mist With Your Nikkor Lens

Image by Trevhas, taken using a Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 lens. 

As autumn takes hold and moves steadily into winter, morning mist will more than likely be something that you see regularly on your commute. It can make everyday scenes look mysterious and magical and it's well worth getting up a bit earlier to capture it with your Nikkor lenses. Here, we share some top tips for capturing mist photos effectively.

Wide angle

When shooting mist, a wide vista will work best to capture the scale and achieve the full impact of the scene. Mist is in essence an accumulation of lots of tiny water particles hanging in the air, so the more you can get in the image, the more awe it'll have. A lens such as the AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED will be ideal, as it will give you the versatility to adjust your field of view while still capturing a vast and intriguing scene. 

Head for undulating, hilly ground

Mist is low lying and tends to form in valleys and in areas where there are hills. Therefore, to capture the interesting features of a landscape when covered in mist, you need to head for an area that has some undulation. You'll be best to head up high, where you can look down on the scene and create some lovely vistas of pools of mist in the valleys.

Include foreground

The nature of mist is that it makes backgrounds silhouetted out, so it's important that there are several different layers to your composition. Having a captivating foreground is important for clarity of the image, otherwise it'll look blurred. Trees, foliage or rocks will work well. Experiment with the composition of these using rule of thirds to make the image pleasing to the eye. 

Bring a tripod

If you choose to capture mist in forests or darker areas, it might be necessary to use a slower shutter speed to make sure that the image is properly exposed. The best thing to do is experiment with different shutter speeds until you find one that works for your shot. Having the tripod handy will also allow you to step away from the camera if you are lucky enough to spot some wildlife to include in the shot.

Don't hang around

Misty conditions can change very quickly so it's important to act on a shot as soon as you see it. The slightest gust of wind or change in ambient temerature can make the mist disperse, meaning there's no chance of getting any more misty shots on the day. 

Protect your lens

As we mentioned before, mist is essentially small water droplets so if you're in the mist when photographing, these could land on your lens, and cause blurs and smudges as you try to wipe them off. One way to get around this is to attach a clear filter such as an ultra violet or skylight filter, to stop the water landing directly onto your lens.