Photographers understand how frustrating it can be when poor weather affects your shot. Usually, this occurs due to overcast or rainy skies.
But that doesn’t mean you should put away your camera! Cloudy days can actually be great opportunities to take great photos; their diffused light makes it easier to work with and casts softer shadows than bright days do.
Waterfalls
Waterfalls make for classic photo opportunities and there is no shortage of breathtaking waterfalls around the world. From Niagara Falls in America to Gullfoss in Iceland to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Zambia, there’s a stunning waterfall somewhere that rivals anything you have seen on television or social media.
When photographing waterfalls, the ideal conditions are usually overcast or rainy days. This provides even illumination across the water’s surface and a more consistent contrast range. Unfortunately, this means you may need to use slower shutter speeds – especially if the water is moving quickly as is often the case during storms.
However, this can be an excellent chance to hone your landscape photography skills. Particularly, waterfalls and streams offer excellent practice with controlling both shutter speed and aperture.
One benefit of overcast and rainy days is that they enable long shutter speeds without the need for filters, giving off a silky-smooth effect only longer exposures can provide. You simply set your camera’s ISO to its lowest native setting and use an f-stop number like f/22 in order to achieve these long shutter speeds.
Circular Polariser Filters can reduce glare from reflected surfaces and create deeper, darker tones for your greens. They’ll also help prevent blown-out highlights that are common problems when waterfalls face direct sunlight. Furthermore, using a circular polariser filter makes the light look more natural – adding an extra magical touch to your image!
Lighthouses
Photographers always love coastal locations, and on cloudy days the soft light created by the clouds provides some spectacular opportunities. Piers, lighthouses, jetties and groynes can all be photographed beautifully under these soft lighting conditions created by cloudy skies.
When photographing landscapes like this, a wide-angle lens is essential. This helps you capture more of the scene and incorporate other elements like the cliff on which a lighthouse stands or waves crashing around it.
Telephoto lenses can also be used to get close-up shots of the lighthouse, adding more detail and perspective to the photograph as well as creating a “compressed” effect, in which the background appears closer than it actually is.
When photographing a lighthouse, the best time to capture its beacon light is usually during sunset or dawn. Low in the sky, sunlight rays will penetrate atmospheric particles and produce warm, diffused illumination through atmospheric particles.
If your lighthouse is located close enough, you might even be able to capture photos during stormy weather for an even more dramatic look. This could include icy storms and rainbows or simply dramatic waves crashing into the lighthouse for a stunning backdrop.
No matter if you’re an experienced mariner or just starting out as a photographer, lighthouses make great subjects to shoot. Take a trip down your favorite coastline and capture some stunning images for your portfolio! Keep these tips in mind the next time you shoot photos; these will guarantee great results!
Landscapes
Cloudy or rainy days may not be photographers’ ideal conditions, but they can offer some excellent photo opps when it’s not so ideal. The right shot can add drama and atmosphere to a scene, turning an ordinary landscape or cityscape into something much more mysterious.
On a cloudy day, it can be an ideal time to capture details as the even lighting makes it simple to focus on small elements without worrying about setting exposures. A red barn in the distance, flowers amidst puddles or leaves covered in water droplets are just a few examples of things to look out for on your next rainy day.
On a rainy day, take advantage of reflections to add texture to your photographs. Search for puddles and reflections in wet pavement, as well as rocks or trees in the distance that have reflected in it.
If the clouds aren’t too heavy, try shooting in black and white for greater creativity when post-processing your photos. Additionally, shooting RAW format saves space on your memory card and makes working with color much simpler.
One of the major difficulties when shooting landscapes on overcast days is capturing any sky detail. You can overcome this by pointing your camera in different directions, increasing your chances for capturing more subtle tones in the sky.
For a dramatic effect, bring along either a neutral density filter or circular polarizer when taking pictures of clouds. It will give your photographs an extra edge and you’ll be amazed at the transformation it makes to your final image.
Snow
Have you ever witnessed a snowy day? It can be absolutely magical. Snow makes for stunning portraits and dramatic landscapes alike, so here are some tips to help create stunning photographs when it’s snowing:
Before shooting snow photos, one of the first things you should do is select an unoccupied location. This will minimize the possibility of someone walking into your photo or leaving footprints that will obstruct it.
Next, aim your camera at a location with good light. Sunlight can reflect off snow, creating an ethereal effect which may look stunning in certain landscapes.
Lens hoods can also protect your camera when the weather turns icy. Not only does this prevent snow from landing on the front lens element of your camera, but it also keeps stray flakes away from its lens.
Once you’ve identified the perfect spot, take your time. The more photos taken, the greater your chances are for finding a quality shot.
Another essential aspect of photography is capturing the correct angle. Shooting in direct sunlight can result in shadows that distract from your subject matter.
Depending on your camera and the type of snowfall, you may need to adjust your settings a bit. Usually, only an increase in exposure compensation of a few tenths of a stop will do the trick to avoid muddy gray results and keep snow bright and white in photos.
Lightning
On a sunny day, many photographers seek shade. But on cloudy or rainy days you can capture some amazing photo ops! Take reflections of streetscapes in puddles on the pavement and watch for lightning bolts and rainbows created only by rain!
With a camera equipped with a wide-angle lens, you can capture some stunning photos of illuminated raindrops on cloudy days. These drops take on an almost glowing quality when illuminated by flash behind your subject.
Cloudy days make for ideal fashion or portrait photography due to the soft lighting conditions, which make your subject’s skin appear more radiant and attractive.
Take advantage of a cloudy day’s ability to cast an even lighting condition without needing studio lights. This makes for great portrait or fashion photoshoot backgrounds since they eliminate blemishes and imperfections on the subjects’ skin.
On a rainy day, there are a few tricks to taking good pictures: using ND filters for long exposures and increasing your ISO to compensate for light reduction caused by clouds. Following these guidelines will guarantee your images are clear and free of grain or noise.
