This is the third and (probably!) final panoramic photo from the recent fog inversion over Vancouver, complementing my previously posted sunset and dawn photos with a night time shot of Vancouver and the Lions Gate Bridge appearing to float in the fog.
Capturing these three panoramas was an exhausting process, both physically, due to the need to be at the viewpoint well over an hour before sunrise to make sure of capturing the best light in the morning and well after sunset to get the low fog in the evening, and mentally, because I was never sure when I wasn't at the viewpoint whether the conditions were correct. I'd estimate I spent 14-15 hours 'on location' staring at a wall of fog to get these three images, and my time at home was largely spent checking weather conditions, webcams, traffic cams and social network posts to try and figure out if I was missing the shot!
In the end, this is my personal favourite of the three panoramic shots I've posted, as the dark sky allows the fog to glow entirely from inside, lit by the colourful city lights and glowing in a multitude of hues. This also captures what I find is the best of the conditions, with the fog being low enough to show most of the city buildings, but still dense enough to cover the ground.
This is a six photo panoramic image taken using a borrowed 400mm prime lens, and in the full-size image the detail is quite stunning, picking out clearly the cross-bracing on the struts that form the Lions Gate Bridge tower, the rippled reflections from the curved glass on the Bell tower, traffic driving through Stanley Park, and much much more.
Needs to be viewed large! Edit: Larger version now available to view here:
http://500px.com/photo/50264944
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
A fantastic capture - I can only admire your dedication in achieving these shots but it has been well worth it. Fav