Drone shots during the morning fog

For the past few mornings there has been a very dense fog that fills the garden, visible from my kitchen window as I prepare my coffee. Though a busy schedule and poor weather going into the later parts of the day have limited my ability to get out and capture it. Though this morning, as I brewed the coffee and looked outside, I felt the need to pack up the DJI Mini 2, throw the coffee in a small Thermos, and see how this dense fog was impacting the beautiful landscape around the house. This isn't the first time I have attempted to fly my drone in fog; but it is the second. The first time I was still quite new to the drone, a bit scared of using it. But also not sure as to how it would perform in fog. I remember the drone sensors screaming out of confusion as to what the ground might be, and returning to me after a few moments in the sky, covered in water droplets.

Now, a bit more fearless of the drone and more accepting of potentially damaging it in pursuit of great videos and photographs, I tried to be a bit more ambitious today. That sensor issue returned, where it would be incapable of seeing where the ground is and just guess as to where a flat surface may be, making reducing the altitude instantly turn the drone into its landing state. Though you just let it do its thing and then override it once you're at a safer altitude. Still, I flew the drone deep into the fog, somewhat losing it while also being incredibly cautious as to how fast I was flying in case trees suddenly appeared.

I knew the area already quite a bit, and mentioned recently that I wanted to return to it and capture these trees. I think the fog made a really nice impact on the environment that produced an image I wasn't really expecting. Especially from prior visits to the area where it was either too dull and windy, or too sunny. The fog ended up being the perfect background that made the trees, and their lack of colour and leaves due to the season, a lot more immersive. Ending up in a very Halloween sort of aesthetic due to the open fields and scraggly branches.

Since I couldn't send the drone too far into the fog in fear of it crashing, getting lost, or damaged suddenly by too much exposure to the water droplets it was accumulating, I gained a little altitude and looked around for composition in the field, looking at how the recently planted crops were creating leading lines and running off into the nothingness of the fog. Not all photographs ended up being any good, some of them ended up just being an image of complete fog, no details visible at all as the fog continued to roll on in. I'm surprised I actually managed to get anything decent in it with this camera. It was a ton of fun though! I love the atmosphere fog gives, and how it can give something more depth, pulling out single details in an area and really muting the tones due to the way the fog softens the light. Maybe one day I'll get ambitious enough to attempt to climb above the coating of fog and capture it from above.

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