From capture to print: Misty & moody photography with Thomas Heaton

posted Tuesday, December 11, 2018 at 8:00 AM EDT

Last week, photographer Thomas Heaton headed to the Peak District and did some misty early morning landscape photography. The weather was very foggy, which leads to moody scenes. When shooting in fog, you lose a lot of fine detail and sharpness in the scene, but by leaning into the conditions, you can capture images with a ton of atmosphere. As is often the case with landscape photography, the best shots are captured when you work with the conditions rather than fight against them.

This photo trip was not only special for its weather, but it also included Heaton shooting with a Nikon D850 DSLR. If you are a regular viewer of Heaton’s videos, you’ll know that he often shoots with Canon camera equipment. He wanted to see why so many people love the D850, so he decided to give it a go. He’ll be publishing a video soon discussing the camera. Below, we join Heaton on his expedition and follow along as he explores the scenery and decides how best to approach the fog and mist.

Next, we join Heaton back in his office as he edits an image from the trip. It’s nice to see the process from capture to print, as there are important and different considerations made during each part of the photographic process. It’s also beneficial to consider how you intend to edit an image while you are capturing it, so the more familiar you are with your editing software – Lightroom and Photoshop in Heaton’s case – the better able you are to plan ahead and “see” the final shot as you are in the field making the capture. It’s also nice to get both the “how” and “why” of a specific editing process. Heaton is very thoughtful about how he captures and edits his images, so you may learn a new way to work with your own images.