Varying conditions lead to the formation of fog that blankets much of the San Francisco Bay Area. Long exposures of this phenomena produces stunning imagery that looks more like the waves in a river or ocean than fog itself.
A short hike up towards the peak of Mount Tamalpais East Peak led to a perfect vista for capturing the fog roll through Mill Valley during the upcoming sunset. Knowing that many of these shots would require a long focal length to reach, I brought along my trusty Sony A6000 body and 70-300 mm lens.
The hour leading up to sunset produced a truly otherworldly view as the sun slowly made its way down to the horizon. The lower the sun got, the more illuminated the fog became taking on soft hues of red, orange, and pink.
Minutes after sunset the sky took on an uncommonly brilliant pink hue that overpowered the view. In this case photos did the scene justice.
On this particular night a thirty second exposure produced my favorite shot. Given enough time the movement of the fog smoothes to create the appearance of waves, but still leaves enough definition and texture to entertain the eye.
Approximately forty-five minutes after sunset while the light was fading I took one final shot using a sixty second exposure to gather enough light. Compared to the prior thirty second shot you can see how the fog waves smooth even further and take on a more abstract shape.