Opting for a crazy early rise looking for foggy views paid off, where I managed to capture old school looking Ilford HP5 shots paired with the wonderful Kodak Portra 800 roll film. Join me for some empty and intriguing neighbourhood shots.
After a few evenings of extremely heavy fog in the neighbourhood, I decided to venture out one early morning to see if I could find some interesting compositions. The fog was extremely dense and hovering at ground level, and I couldn’t wait to get some cool shots. After an earlier than usual weekday rise (4am) and ensuring I had enough layers on, I set out for what ended up being a good 2.5 hour trip in and around the streets near my house. I opted for a roll of colour (Kodak Portra 800) and a roll of black & white film (Ilford HP5+), both shot at box speed.
Camera gear used was my Hasselblad setup, with an 80mm and 150mm lens, and of course a trustworthy tripod. I had not shot the Hasselblad for a while and was looking forward to some sharp shots. Most of the shots were taken at f8 or f11, meaning relatively long exposure times. I was especially looking forward to seeing the results of Kodak Portra 800, this is probably one of my favourite films but I don’t shoot it as often as I should, it is a wonderful film.
Bit of a cliche shot, but I love the balance between negative space and the coloured areas around the tram stops.
My first shot of the morning. A closer cropped shot would have been more effective I think, too much spare space on the edges.
Setting up for the shot with my Hasselblad and prism finder for closer inspection.
The final shot. The colours didn’t come out quite as I expected, but I like the overall feel of this shot.
Beginning of the line. I will definitely print this shot, I really like the lighting being enveloped by the fog.
All setup for the main shot.
The final shot. I found the lamppost closest to the camera a bit distracting, and didn’t think the light trails were distinct enough. So I re-shot the scene, photo later on in this post…
Munich’s Highlight Towers (built in 2004, consisting of two towers with a height of 126m (Tower I) and 113m (Tower II), joined by a platform at two points between the buildings. You can see how well Portra 800 renders strong bright colours in this shot.
There is something desolate and intriguing about this shot, I really quite like it.
This was one of the shots I was most interested to see the final result of, as I was curious to see how shooting two different subjects at different ranges in fog would come out. I am quite pleased with the result, really nice sharpness from HP5 film in this shot, there is something interesting to me about the strong sharpness of the bridge architecture contrasted with the grainy and bright fog over the office block.
3 lonely mates.
I really like to colours in this shot, it has a bit of a Bladerunner look to it.
Lower part of the Highlight Towers, I really like the bright lighting along the stairways, the shapes are really cool.
One of my favourite shots and I nearly used it for the cover image. I tend to agree with commentary made by a friend around going for a lower angle of view on this shot. Overall really feel to this shot.
I waited patiently for this shot, there are not that many trams running at 5am. As this was a long exposure, I took it as soon as I could hear the tram coming and managed to capture its initial journey across the bridge. A more interesting shot might have been the light trails going all the way up to the waiting passenger.
I much prefer this second shot, both in terms of composition and exposure. I nearly chose this for my blog cover shot, but there is something about the abundance of light trails shots available (even this one which is more interesting in the fog), meaning that they don’t always jump out to me as being particularly special or unique.
I thought the overhead lines would make for interesting contrast with the distant carpark lights, but think the shot came out a bit busy overall and lacking an overall subject.
Shot right around sunrise, there is something eerie about this shot. I imagine it being an empty forest without the apartment blocks.
I spent a good while at this location, with street lighting all along this multiple-block long street.
Coffee at this hour is a must.
Hiding between the trees shot of the Highlight Towers (or what you can see of them).
I like the composition of this shot, but it is a pity the street lighting blew out the highlights so much, it is a bit overwhelming. And I clearly should’ve spent a bit more time cleaning off the dust marks. I like how the lights just end up in nothingness.
Wonderful clarity and colour of Kodak Portra 800. Bravo.
Another moody and lonely shot. I am also running out of ways to describe foggy scenes. I’ve also realised this shot is already in this post, I am starting to lose it.
Close to sunrise, the fog was starting to dissipate, but I only had a few shots left. This shot is a bit busy but there is also something symmetrical about it. I think it would’ve looked really nice in black & white in the middle of the night.
I love the feel of this shot. It looks timeless.
Overall observations
As with most things in life, starting early always gives you views that no one else experiences. Whilst I am an early riser anyways, even this was on the extreme end. However, it was totally worth it to take advantage of the dense fog and empty spaces. It was so early the police even wanted to know what I was doing, and seemed a bit perplexed when I explained to them that I was going to photograph the fog. “Have fun” they said as they disappeared into the night (quite literally as the fog just swallowed the police car).
Once I got over the initial cold and emptiness of the neighbourhood I got into quite a good flow in terms of taking shots, I also worked the scene more than usual to make sure I had the composition I was looking for (and also was pretty self demanding to make sure I found a decent shot after deciding to unload the tripod and set everything up)
Film wise I was really impressed with Kodak Portra 800, but this doesnt surprise me as it is such a strong performer, and I don’t use it nearly enough as I should. I chose HP5 because I figured it would manage the fog better, if anything adding more grain to these shots would add more personality. Despite a few shots being a bit overexposed in the street lighting zones, overall I think it performed really well. There is more than one B&W shot that I will definitely have a go at printing.
I really enjoy having an idea about a theme (fog fog fog in this case) and going out and creating some really interesting photographs. Of course, with effort and an extra early wake up time, a lot can be achieved!
I have a few rolls to get through on the scanner, so plenty to look forward to, including medium format infrared landscape shots, classic Munich black & white shots, and special black & white slide film review!
See you soon!
Neil
