Adding atmospheric elements like fog can transform a flat image into something more dramatic and immersive. Lightroom Classic now offers better tools to create and control fog, allowing you to shape the mood of an image without needing perfect weather conditions.
Coming to you from Serge Ramelli Photography, this detailed video demonstrates how to use Lightroom Classic’s latest tools to add realistic fog. Ramelli starts with a landscape shot of Tunnel View in Yosemite and walks through a step-by-step process to enhance the scene. By converting the image to black and white and adjusting highlights and shadows, he creates a strong foundation before introducing fog. The key technique involves using radial gradients combined with the Dehaze slider to selectively place fog in specific areas, mimicking how it naturally settles in valleys.
Ramelli explains that simply adding a fog effect isn’t enough—it needs refinement. He shows how using a brush tool with varying flow and density settings helps blend the fog into the landscape more naturally. Randomizing its placement makes it look less artificial. He also demonstrates how darkening parts of the image, such as the top and corners, enhances the effect by drawing the viewer’s attention toward the fog. These subtle adjustments create depth and make the final image more compelling.
The same technique can be applied to portraits. Ramelli uses an image of himself standing near water and replicates the fog effect. To keep it realistic, he subtracts the fog from his figure while leaving it over the water. This ensures the effect interacts naturally with the environment rather than simply overlaying the entire image. Adjustments with the brush tool help further refine the look, balancing the effect for a seamless result. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Ramelli.
I've never been able to replicate fog in Photoshop to my satisfaction. And the example shown in this video of Yosemite doesn't look right to me either. The area manipulated in his picture is too perfectly elliptical, too consistent in detail, and appears more as a brightened area than an area of natural fog. Obviously not all fog is the same, and some fog is just a thin layer of mist. But most fog has texture, patterns, and various degrees of density. In other words: patchy.
Believe me I have nothing against anyone who does this sort of thing. It's not for me. I prefer to capture what's actually in the scene as naturally as possible and not add elements in such a blatant manner. I feel it's just fake. As I said if you want to highly edit your photos that's your prerogative, it's your art, and that's OK.