Perseverance 2 by abirkill

Perseverance 2

As those living in Vancouver will already know, we've once again been subject to a relatively rare temperature inversion that has pushed cloud down over the heart of the city, leaving it shrouded in thick fog.

I captured a beautiful shot of this when it last occurred in January, and I was eager to have another attempt. This remains a very difficult shot to take unless you live high up in West Vancouver, as the conditions are very difficult to judge. Once again, I made five trips to the viewpoint to capture the elusive conditions, with other trips resulting in either the city being completely covered in fog, or on one occasion, finding I was still in fog by the time I reached the viewpoint itself!

Finally, the fog dropped low enough for the Vancouver buildings to start to appear, and I was able to make two successful trips, last night and this morning, to capture the sunset and the sunrise. This shot was taken just before 7:00am, well before the sun started to rise, but with the early dawn light causing the sky to glow above the city. On this occasion the Lions Gate Bridge was almost completely covered by thick, fluffy cloud, but the iconic Vancouver buildings were visible.

My very sincere thanks go out to two friends who accompanied me and who both lent me some very expensive and high-quality telephoto lenses, especially as I have since discovered that the photos taken with my own telephoto lens have some very serious flaws which suggest that it's suffered an internal failure of some kind.

This is a four-photo panoramic image taken at 200mm, each from a four second exposure. Needs to be viewed large!

New: This series of photos now has news coverage! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2480914/Play-misty-The-stunning-photographs-fog-Vancouver-leave-cloud-nine.html

Newer: These photos were also printed in four of the biggest UK newspapers on November 1st: The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, and The Sun. Here are two of them as a full-page centre spread in The Guardian:
http://alexisbirkill.com/media/VancouverFog/guardian20131101_photo.jpg
Brilliant, beautiful and I love being the first to view and fav!
October 24th, 2013  
Absolutely amazing. FAV from me too!
October 24th, 2013  
Gorgeous!
October 24th, 2013  
Absolutely amazing!
October 24th, 2013  
Caz
Awesome ! Fav :) Sorry about your lens though :(
October 24th, 2013  
fav... fabulous!
October 24th, 2013  
unreal - your pictures are amazing! Fav
October 24th, 2013  
@cazann Thanks, me too! You can see the problem on the previous shot if you look carefully, it's noticeably fuzzy on the right edge of the photo. OK for use online (just) but useless for printing. Typical symptoms of it being dropped, but it hardly leaves the house, and was fine last time I used it.
October 24th, 2013  
absolutely amazing, instant fav :)
October 24th, 2013  
Fantastic, well done!
October 24th, 2013  
Absolutely gorgeous - fav
October 24th, 2013  
WOW! Beautiful! fav
October 24th, 2013  
Kev
They just keep coming! As @tomo87 said the other day, you are a wizard! Hope the lens is repairable, mate, even better in warranty.
October 24th, 2013  
Kev
Oh, and a fav of course!
October 24th, 2013  
This is spectacular! Fav of course. I have just started following you and I look forward to your pictures ... hopefully I can learn something :)
October 24th, 2013  
This is amazing. I love seeing the shots that you post. You inspire me to keep learning and keep on trying to get it right :) Sorry to hear about your lens!!
October 24th, 2013  
Love those layers and fab colors...like a lost city:)! Beauty....fav
October 24th, 2013  
WOW absolutely love this! What an amazing picture! FAV!
October 24th, 2013  
Very cool
October 24th, 2013  
Amazing ! Feels like I should be watching for a giant ! Fe Fi Fo Fum !
October 24th, 2013  
Stunning....fav!
October 24th, 2013  
Meg
Wow! This is really stunning!
October 24th, 2013  
Wow... you are incredible! I wish I could fav this 10 times!! Fav!!
October 24th, 2013  
Very sci-fi, another amazing creation. You really are dedicated to your art! Wonderful creative outlet when you work in something as dry as S/W dev. (I'm retired now after 43 years in IT, determined to use the other side of my brain. )
October 24th, 2013  
So magical and beautiful
October 24th, 2013  
Fav...Absolutely stunning. It looks like Santas workshop in the Northpole
October 24th, 2013  
Fav. Absolutely stunning.
October 24th, 2013  
Spectacular view! Love the photo.
October 24th, 2013  
Let me try that again... Beauty Alexis!
October 24th, 2013  
Supurb capture. Fav.
October 24th, 2013  
Fantastically amazing! FAV!!! Breathtaking!!
October 24th, 2013  
favelicious!
October 24th, 2013  
amazing. this is an awesome shot. I am really impressed at your dedication - I guess that's why you get the shots though :-) fav
October 24th, 2013  
Ria
Thanks for this shot and 4 seconds huh...would like to try that:) FAV::)))
October 24th, 2013  
Stellar work, really excellent. Fav
October 24th, 2013  
Simply stunning! fav
October 24th, 2013  
Stunning work
October 24th, 2013  
Ian
Amazing !
October 24th, 2013  
Wow this is absolutely incredible, never seen anything like it. I'd Fav it twice if I could, once for the fact it's a breathtaking image and secondly for your perseverence!!!
October 24th, 2013  
absolutely stunning
October 24th, 2013  
It's the little triangles of the bridge that makes the shot.
Shame about your lens - you'll just have to get a new one. ;)
October 24th, 2013  
Fav ! amazing light and capture !
October 24th, 2013  
WOW, this is really awesome...thanks for persevering to bring us this pic!
October 25th, 2013  
Jo
Holy cow Alexis this is an incredible shot, you really are a very accomplished photographer. Fav
October 25th, 2013  
great colours!
October 25th, 2013  
Amazing scene and colours.
October 28th, 2013  
Stunning -- and definitely worth the perseverance!
October 31st, 2013  
Wow congrats on your double TT Alexie!! This is certainly your week!! I have bought the Guardian and your two shots are double page centre page spread!! I am so pleased at your success - very much deserved!!
November 1st, 2013  
You have definitely captured this phenomena in the most awesome way!
November 2nd, 2013  
Simply spectacular- a real work of art and worth all of the effort that you put into it.
November 2nd, 2013  
Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fav again!
November 4th, 2013  
Two in the top ten - double congrats. Love, love, love this one - FAV
November 4th, 2013  
Another fav and such an amazing scene!
November 4th, 2013  
I love the colours here. The blue and the orange are awesome together!
November 20th, 2013  
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