How to predict fog for perfect woodland photography

Anyone who has spent their mornings in woodland, composing a scene of fantastic gnarly trees and mossy rocks, knows that fog or mist can be the magic ingredient to really create a magical atmosphere in your image. But how can you predict when fog is going to occur? I have rarely found that weather forecasts give me the heads-up when it comes to fog and so I started using the Clear Outside app on my phone. But this also didn’t really give me the info I needed – whenever I looked under the ‘fog’ section, it always just read ‘0’.

Little did I know, however, all the information was right there in the app, I just needed to know how to unlock it. It was actually a fellow YouTuber, Andrew Hamilton who made me aware of this little trick, so go check out his great YouTube channel when you have a moment.

To predict when fog is going to occur, you open up the Clear Outside app, plug in your location and then take a note of three figures. You need to pay attention to ‘Temp C’, ‘Dew Point’ and ‘Humidity’. If the temperature and dew point values are the same, or close, and humidity is high (90 or higher is best) then there is a good chance that you will find fog at that time.

I’ve used this tip on several occasions now, and it hasn’t let me down yet. As we move into summer, mist and fog are becoming less likely, but armed with this new knowledge, you may just be able to catch a morning when everything comes together, allowing you to get the perfect shot.

Here’s a foggy woodland shot I got last Autumn.

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