I look through the viewfinder and a feeling comes over me. I know the setting is correct and the image is brimming with humor. There is something I see that has an effect that I know will be welcomed when I and others look at the resulting image. This magic doesn’t happen every time I press the shutter button.
What it means to capture the mood of what’s in front of you can be subjective, changing from photographer to photographer. For me, it’s about the feeling of being there, of taking the viewer to the location of the photo so that it feels like when the photo was taken. When you experience these sensations while taking the photo, you know that the viewer will also experience them when looking at the image.
Just as a person can have different moods, so can a photograph. Either one can experience a feeling of intense action, loneliness, serenity, or danger. For me, the mood in a photograph tends toward relaxation and similar feelings that make the viewer want to walk right into the image and sit there for a while.
What is mood and what elements are needed to create it so that whoever looks at your photo can enter the scene and feel it? Different elements can be used to create a sense of excitement in a place. One of the most common to incorporate into a photo is fog. A thick fog can add so much to a shot that when people look at the image, they know exactly what the experience was like when the photo was taken. The drama added by fog can be produced in a number of ways:
Going over the fog on a ridge or on top of a mountain allows a clear view of the area with the fog nested on a series of mountain ridges or along a river. Even if the river cannot be seen, the mist that fills the area draws the viewer’s attention, perhaps even more so than the river itself would.
Wildlife in mist can add an air of mystery to whatever the animal is doing, even if it’s just walking through a field or sitting on a nest. A single animal in the fog can make you seem more alone than you really are due to the feeling of isolation.
Other subjects that work very well in fog are old bridges and trees. While mist around a group of trees is nice, finding a tree isolated and set apart from others in the area creates a very strong image. One of Ansel Adams’ top prints is of an oak tree shrouded in mist with a low sun filtering into the background. The thicker the fog for this type of shot, the better, as it helps hide anything else in the viewfinder and puts all the emphasis on the main subject.
Metering mist can enhance or diminish the shooting effect. If it’s above the fog and it’s bright white, treat it like snow and open it up a bit to balance the color. If you’re shooting through fog, you can either underexpose about -2/3 of a stop to darken the overall image and bring out the fog even more or go to +1/3 to lighten it up a bit. Take a few shots of each exposure to get the exact feel you want in your shot. Don’t rely on its digital LCD screen to review your shot though, as it tends to light things up a bit.
You often hear advice to overexpose a foggy shot, as fog tends to be a lighter color than a clear day. While this is true, sometimes you may want to render a different effect. This is where the parentheses come in. Take several shots on the bright side, but don’t think underexposure is out of the question, because this is where you can deepen the mood a bit. While the LCD may not provide the best view of your shot, the histogram can be helpful in showing if your highlights are off.
Fog helps to isolate the subject from any distracting elements that may be in the area, such as a cluttered background. There’s really only one option when you wake up on a foggy morning, and it’s not to roll over and get some more sleep. Grab your gear and run out to find something to shoot before the fog clears up.
Another natural element that can be great for bringing the viewer to your side is storm clouds. The darker, more ominous and threatening the sky, the more drama and humor you will have in the resulting images. This is where your average day dream won’t work; it has to be on the brink of a big storm coming up. Just like fog, using exposure compensation on the negative side will make clouds appear darker than they actually were when you were there. To lessen the effect, go to the plus side, again in brackets to get the exact feel you want to highlight.
When storm clouds are forming, the effect is increased if the storm is on the horizon opposite the sun. While the sun is obscured, you may not have the best of shots, but if the sun breaks through and lights up your foreground subject with storm clouds above, then you get a very dramatic image. A strong foreground subject is almost a necessity for images with storm clouds. While clouds could be the main theme, without something else in the frame, there is no contrast theme.
If the sun is at the right angle, about 45 degrees above the horizon, you might even get the added bonus of a rainbow. While you never want to be too far away from your vehicle when a storm is approaching, especially if it’s accompanied by lightning, it may be worth the risk once all is well.
While fog can create a warm and calming effect, snow can move in the opposite direction. Different settings of snow can create different moods in a photo, depending on how the overall scene is portrayed. A snow covered tree can place the viewer in the cold. A vast field of snow and frost on the trees can bring about a different mood.
Finding the right settings for a snow scene can be difficult if you want to take the viewer back to the moment you pressed the shutter button. The contrast helps. The mix of a nice blue sky and white snow can bring everything together. Combining a snowy scene with fog or mist can also help. While fog is most prevalent in spring and fall, when ground and air temperatures are quite different, you can also encounter fog during winter. With fog and snow simultaneously, you have two elements working together to create the feeling.
In addition to utilizing the quirks of the weather, shooting a single subject over a large area will create an instant sense of isolation for almost everyone. It doesn’t matter what that subject is, but the smaller it is in the scene, the greater the feeling of isolation and loneliness.
Another issue that has automatic impact is running water. Several years ago, small artificial waterfalls to install in your home or garden were very popular because they were supposed to have a calming effect. The sounds of a stream or waterfall can make people sit and listen for long periods of time. Similarly, images of crashing waves, a stream, or a waterfall recall the calming sounds of water and have similar effects.
When you’re photographing flowing water, a long exposure is usually used to create the silky-smooth flow of the water. While this effect is nice, a fast shutter speed can create a sense of power when waves crash against rocks or a waterfall sends spray cascading down onto the rocks below. Don’t feel limited because you’ve seen shots of water taken primarily in one direction. If you try a slow shutter speed for waves crashing against rocks, your image may be more interesting than the shot that captures the crash of the waves.
What creates a feeling of humor in one person may not work that way in another. The same can be said when you ask several people what mood they feel when looking at a certain photo. You can get as many different answers as the number of people you ask. Whatever the case, do your best to try to entice viewers so they feel like they’re there and can feel what it was like to take the photo.
