Foggy Outings, and Some Dog Photo Thoughts
Provincetown has long been a haven for painters, photographers, and other artists, in large part because of the unique light that we get here. We’re precariously located at the very tip of Cape Cod, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean (and Cape Cod Bay and Provincetown Harbor). All this water creates some amazing reflections in the sky, especially right before or after sun up and sun down.
During the holiday break last month, we were socked in with a lot of rain and clouds, which meant we went days without any sunshine, amazing or otherwise. But one day was actually dry, except for the heavy layer of fog that had settled over town. It had been very cold right before Christmas, and then got very warm right after. This quick transition–and an unusual lack of wind–created the perfect conditions for thick, murky fog.
On that dry foggy day, I took my camera out on a walk with my partner John and our dog Daisy. Town is always quiet this time of year, but it was especially still and calm that day. We stopped at places where I often shoot–the moors, the West End breakwater, the big dunes that roll into Herring Cove, the old houses in the West End on Commercial Street. Normally I’m shooting when it’s clear and there’s some sunlight to work with. That wasn’t the case in the fog.
And in the fog everything looks different. The landscape shrinks to only what’s visible within a few hundred feet, at best. It’s easy to lose perspective or a sense of place and direction. And from a distance, colors are muted and soft. But up close they take on a deeper and more urgent hue than they normally would.
In this way, the colors become a quiet reminder that light still exists, somewhere.
Two other observations:
First, our previous dog, Lucy (who died last May) was white, which made it very easy to take photos of her. She always stood out against most backdrops here. Daisy is a chocolate lab, and especially this time of year she blends into the scenery (which is mostly brown, red, and orange). It’s a real challenge to get shots where she’s not just lost in the background. Plus she’s two years old, so it’s sometimes hard just to get her to sit still. But we’re working on that, slowly but surely.
Second, although it used to challenge me, shooting in the fog seems easier now than shooting in the light. The thing I’ve learned is to keep the shot simple, and let it just be what it is. There’s no need to adjust the white or black light, or to fiddle with saturation levels. What’s there is what’s there, and it’s pretty compelling as-is.
Anyway! Some of the fog photos are below (including with Miss Daisy). Let me know what you think! Especially if you know Provincetown but are used to only seeing it in the bright summer sun.
