A fact of life occurred to me the other day: soon, we’re going to lose some of the greatest pre-digital photographers of our lives. Often when I do interviews with newer photographers, they reference creators online at times. But creators aren’t really photographers — they’re making something to please a social media algorithm instead of for themselves. One of those great photographers that we’re probably going to lose someday is Todd Hido. He’s known for a variety of work, but perhaps his most haunting and pervasive work are the landscapes and night work he does to showcase a specific mood. The images are both eerie and calm at the time same. Over the past year, I’ve been studying his work intently and trying his style in my own environments. And here’s what I’ve learned about how he works.
First, you should know that Todd Hido goes for specific vibes and works to keep the colors in his scenes pretty simple. He states that he’s trying to recreate a dream or a memory of some sort—or at least have his images appear that way. Truly, he’s made some of the most romantic images to suburbia — at least in my head.
His creative vision can be seen in the work of John Barbiaux, Emmanuel Munier, and Derek Boswell among so many others. In our interviews with each of these photographers, they tell of how the images he created spoke to them in ways they resonated with.
All of the images in this article were shot by me. But if you want to learn more, you should check out Todd Hido’s Instagram and website.
Hazy Weather
First off, Todd typically shoots in hazy and foggy weather. This is much easier to get if you’re in a coastal city of some sort or if the area you’re in has a community that often waters its lawns. The moisture goes up into the air and makes a fog. This fog leads to some truly beautiful sights. Haze is a beautiful part of photography because it adds mystery and draws people closer into the image. This mystery gets them curious and they instantly want to know more about the scene.
The images in this article were shot with the Sony a7r III with 85mm f1.4 G Master II, Leica SL2s with 35mm f2 SL, and the Fujifilm X Pro 3 with the 8mm f3.5 during our reviews of those items. They were all also done with specific lens filters and another special tool.
Use Pro Mist Filters or Glimmerglass
Technically speaking, modern cameras and lenses are too clean. So you need to get them a bit dirty to get the look that Todd if going for. Some of our favorite lens filters are the Pro Mist filters and Glimmerglass. I personally like Glimmerglass a whole lot more, but a Mist filter can add even more mist to a scene pretty easily.
Shoot Through a Car Window
Something else that Todd often does is drive around at night and shoot images through his car window. Obviously, it’s not the cleanest window and so sediment and the natural gunk that the window accumulates cakes onto the image. But this help create a special look that’s otherwise tough to get straight out of camera. It’s also, in some circles, looked down upon to shoot through the window. But those circles don’t appreciate the fullest extent of artistic creation.
Todd Hido, on the other hand, doesn’t let himself be held back in the pursuit of his creative vision.
Shoot at Night (Though It’s Possible to Do it During the Day)
Most of Todd’s most gorgeous work is shot at night when he’s driving around and he finds bright lights contrasting against various scenes. Combine with the haze, fog, and the tools that he’s using, he’s able to get these scenes pretty easy. Night scenes add to the ethereal dream-look that he’s got going on. And to the human eye, this adds mystery. People who look at the images are often wondering where the photos are shot, etc.
Film-like White Balances
A great place to start when shooting images meant to look like Todd Hido’s are with film-like white balances. Daylight and Tungsten work very well — but I’ll admit that I often shoot at the Shade, indoor, or flash white balance to get the looks that I really want. My images tend to come out a lot warmer than Todd’s. As it is, Todd has found a way to work with blue tones that rival Picasso’s blue period.