A Mist is Good for a Smile--and Flare is Fair Photographic Fare

Cool spring mornings are often misty mornings. Overnight temperatures fall below the dew point (the temperature at which relative humidity becomes 100%) and water vapor is forced to condense around microscopic dust nuclei. And voila, we can celebrate Ground Fog Day.

On the road, ground fog is a bad thing. It often concentrates in low spots. When we drive into it, the visibility becomes zero, and panic, chain collisions and other woes ensue. On the other hand, a misty sunrise at the Celery Farm offers a delightful, almost mystical (no puns, please) experience. Let the photos speak.

By the way, nobody dare say that water itself, in whatever state (solid, liquid or gas), is a bad thing. After all, without it we would be powder, and life would not be. It’s a very special little molecule with unique properties. The Creator “done a good thing” when He created H2O. He uses it in blessings as well as in judgment (See Genesis 7).

Flare, in photography, is generally not a good thing, unnatural as it is. It happens when light, especially from a bright source like the Sun, starts reflecting and refracting around in the elements of the camera lens and produces odd effects—general haziness and loss of contrast, as well as bright, colorful geometric spots and streaks in the photographic image. Flare is annoying when it spoils a picture, but it can be put to artistic use, either on purpose or by accident. Again, let the photos speak.