Mist Opportunities is a collection of images capturing the dense, unusual fog that has graced the San Diego coastline this winter.

I never thought that poor weather conditions and restricted visibility would have me jumping out of bed at 5:00 a.m. like a kid on Christmas Day. Yup, you read that right! A thick cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at the Earth's surface had me skipping my morning coffee and jumping in the ocean before sunrise in January. I'll add that to the list of things I never thought I would say!

This series is about finding the light in any situation and embracing opportunities when they present themselves. What started out as an inconvenience and an excuse to sleep in a little bit longer turned into a fun little project of chasing weird weather patterns around San Diego County.

**Scripps Pier on a foggy morning at dawn.**

In The Ocean

At first I wasn't stoked on the fog; I remember a few mornings where I skipped getting in the water to photograph because the fog was so dense. A big swell was forecasted to hit San Diego, so I free dove the La Jolla kelp beds one last time before we got some waves. I loaded up my camera housing, mask, snorkel fins, and weights in a milk crate and strapped it to the front of my paddle board at first light. A thin layer of fog rolled through while I was in the water and covered the coastline. All of a sudden the ocean felt a lot bigger. The water was super dark and it was a little spooky out there so I ended up only doing a couple dives. I took this image below facing north about a 1/4 mile off the coast of La Jolla Shores.

Surf Photography and Wave Art

Over the next few days the swell filled in and we had one of the only big swells of the winter. I teamed up with surfer, Jacob "Zeke" Szekely, one morning to get some shots for Xterra Surf. When we got to the beach at dawn, we couldn't see the water, but we could hear the waves. We knew that there was still plenty of swell. We suited up and jumped in despite the low visibility. The sun came up and the fog was patchy, which created some clear pockets with really amazing lighting. We scored a handful of surf shots and I got a couple of really interesting images in between sets.

That day inspired me to get back out in the water with the dense fog to create a few mystical wave images!

Below are some images from a few foggy mornings in the water.

Mount Soledad

After the swell died out, I knew that I wanted to keep photographing the fog and create a series. The images I had already created inspired me to take this project to the next step. I had several places to check off my list and I started with Mount Soledad.

If you're ever heading South on Highway 101 and see the view pictured below, definitely take a quick cruise to Mount Soledad. You will not regret it! Mountains and city buildings emerging from the clouds offer up some really great photographic opportunities. There is a lot of motion in the clouds making it really fun for long exposures and night photography.

**View looking south bound at Torrey Pines State Beach**

The gallery below features a subset of images that I've taken from this historic landmark on hazy days.

One night when I was shooting up on the mountain, the fog rolled in thick. I did a long exposure hoping to catch some motion in the clouds with the cross in my frame. There were car headlights on the other side of the memorial which added additional lighting and created shadows in the mist that was now covering the entire mountain. It was such an intense moment when I first reviewed the image on my camera's LCD screen. I am still not entirely sure what made the figures in the light next to the cross, but there was a light directly behind me on an upward angle so I think I somehow casted my own shadow in the mist. The lighting drastically changed once the car left so this was just a one time shot with a little bit of luck! I love when a unique photo happens by chance.

Canyons and Parks

I drove around several mornings just bouncing to different locations for fun. I had no plan, just cruising with a coffee and some tunes, photographing whatever I wanted. I love when something unexpected gets the creative juices flowing!

Before I became a full-time photographer, I watched so many killer sunrises while heading east on Highway 52 during my morning commute. So days like these, where I can just go out and shoot, are so amazing to me. I don't take a second of it for granted!

The abstract image below is one of my favorite shots of the entire series. It reminds me of a modern fine art painting.

I did some abstract shots of the trees in La Jolla, off of La Jolla Shores Drive by UCSD . I used different focal lengths, shutter speed, and panning techniques to achieve different effects. I figured I would explain to any non-photographers (and to all the photographers reading this who are interested in my camera settings) how the image above is actually a single image- not just some Instagram filter or Photoshop rendering. Below is a quick progression line showing how I achieved the final image.

A morning hike in Rose Canyon led to some pretty interesting shots. My sister was visiting from Florida around the time the fog was rolling in heavy. She chased fog around San Diego County with me several mornings. I know what a host, huh? We did however make up for the lack of sunshine by eating Mexican food and having margaritas every night!

Below are a few shots from Rose Canyon at dawn.

Architecture

I enjoy doing Real Estate Photography for work, but I rarely photograph architecture for creativity. I loved going outside of my comfort zone for this part of the series!

I am really excited to keep moving forward with this collection. To Be Continued...