Cape Spear Lighthouse – Fog Off!

While walking through St. John’s, I noticed the quote ‘Fog off’ many times, adorning mugs, t-shirts and other accessories. While the sun was shining on Newfoundland’s colourful capital, the quote didn’t make much sense. That all changed the next day when the entire Avalon Peninsula was swallowed up by dense fog. Cape Spear, Canada’s easternmost point, was also covered in mist, and you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. The desired view of the Atlantic Ocean, the rugged coastline or even passing icebergs would not be available this time. But instead of seeing anything, there was plenty to hear. A foghorn blasted loudly to warn sailors of the dangerous waters. In the dense fog, it was impossible to tell exactly where the sound was coming from, or whether it was coming from several foghorns or if an echo had been playing tricks on us. The scene was truly spooky. ‘Fog off’!

It is quite challenging to photograph something you can hardly see! I set up my tripod above the cliffs, from where I caught an interesting glimpse of the lighthouse for a brief moment. Immediately afterwards, the fog was so heavy again that even the beacon was no longer visible. From that moment on, manual focusing was the only option, as the camera’s autofocus was no longer working reliably.

Another challenge arose during image processing. When taking landscape photos, I like to increase the contrast, especially the detail contrast. I also usually increase the colour saturation a bit. However, these foggy photos required a complete shift from my usual workflow, ‘developing’ the photos to look soft rather than vivid.