Toma Bonciu has a real sense for dramatic landscape photography, but what's more, the Romanian landscape photographer is willing to share his experience and knowledge through videos posted on YouTube. Check out his eight tips on taking photos in the fog.
While it's really hard to make a good image from within a forest, there are some things that you can do to minimize the clutter, and see the forest's beautiful trees. Shooting with a longer lens for example, gives you the ability to straighten the vertical lines that trees possess, and helps to compress perspective. But the most important lesson I've learned when shooting forest scenes, is to come back in misty conditions. A foggy forest increases apparent distance between subjects, therefore increasing depth in your image.
The one thing you do need to prepare for, is to get up early, and be ready before the sun rises. But after sunrise, the mist quickly dissipates. For a successful shoot that conjures up all kinds of fairytales and fantasy movies, it's critical that you time your arrival well.
Check out Bonciu's latest video on taking great images in the fogged-up forest, but be sure to also add his post-processing videos to "watch later." Bonciu's channel on YouTube is a treasure trove of solid tips and guidelines to spice up your photography and processing, and I'm sure this great photographer will help you a great deal!
I'm so pumped to be traveling to Romania in 5 weeks!!
Wow! Have you planned some shots? :)
Kind of, I'm going with two girl friends so we've planned out some areas we would like to go but because I'm traveling with two other people who aren't photographers it's hard to plan exact shots. The Transfagarasan highway is definitely an area I will be shooting though.
You will find it interestingly cool, just watch out, the Transfagarasan is closed until June I believe, and you can get up to the lake by cable car, all this if the weather allows. I was unfortunate enough to find 90 km/h winds last Sunday, so I didn't manage to get up to the famous top...
Yes thank you William, I've heard that as well. Just hoping for nice weather and the chance to shoot that highway :) Its really unfortunate you werent able to go up to the top :(
Well, I'm in a better situation, because I live about 100 miles from the place, so only a matter of time, and I'll be back. Have a safe and good experience/trip in Romania!
Thank you so much! I'm really looking forward to it :)
You must be over 30! I just glad it wasn't vertical video.
Really sorry for that Jim. Please understand that many of my videos are filmed while the magic is happening. Photographing the fog that it's blown away by the morning sun and recording by myself it's not an easy task since when I do that vlogging style filming I'm holding the camera and my tripod in one hand. There are other videos when I try to carry another tripod with a camera and have videos look more professional. It depends on the situation. Maybe in time the channel will grow and I'll afford an assistant to film me ... until then I say thank you to the guys at FStoppers for seeing beyond these minuses and appreciating the tips I had to offer.
Thank you Daniel for appreciating my work ... and also for recommending my channel. I'm trying to create videos with quality information but sometimes you need some help in promoting the work you put in. Thanks again! :)
Cheers, Toma! You're entirely welcome. Carry on doing what you're doing and take in account the tips you read here and there. You'll surely gain a great following when you keep on learning the tricks of making compelling video. Appreciate your willingness to share the information. :)
All the best!