Smoke Over Baltimore
During the summer of 2023, smoke originating from wildfires in Canada blanketed the eastern United States with a thick layer of haze on more than one occasion, as winds carried the massive amounts of smoke produced in the wildfires far from their origin points. While the smoke was definitely not good for air quality, increasing the risk of respiratory problems for at-risk populations, the photographer in me was glad to see it arrive because I could get photos of familiar areas now that they were shrouded in a haze. The view looked a lot more “atmospheric”, as things began to fade into the distance at much closer distance than usual, and the horizon appeared much closer than it would on a clear day, as the smoke obscured things further away. This was also a lot heavier than when I had previously experienced traveling wildfire smoke while on a visit to Pennsylvania in 2021.
On June 29, 2023, I was up in Baltimore with a friend, and I took my drone up over the southern part of the city to see the smoke-filled view. I had photographed this area a year prior on a clear day, and I was amazed at how different the whole area looked when that the air was thick with smoke. I share some comparison shots between these conditions and a clear day in “Smoke blankets the city…” in the Journal.
