Bad weather doesn’t mean you can’t take excellent outdoor images. Clouds naturally diffuse light eliminating harsh shadows and rain can actually provide a very interesting element to your images. Neither should you keep your picture taking limited to the middle of the day. Learn to use the available natural light during the hours after sunrise and before sunset. These are known as the golden hours.
As an outdoor photographer, you will encounter all kinds of weather conditions that can be your best friend or worst enemy. Since you cannot control the weather you’ll have to learn how to use what you have. Beautiful shots can be created using the landscape even on wet cloudy days.
There are 2 premium hours that are the best for making great shots. They occur right after the sun rises and again just before the sun sets. During the summer these periods usually last longer and are much shorter in the winter. You’re probably asking yourself why. You see, during these periods of the day the sun provides dramatic lighting without creating deep shadows or intense areas of light. This is especially important when shooting people.
Have you ever taken your subject outside at midday for a photo shoot and they end up trying to avoid squinting from the sun? Or the person in your image is too dark because the sun is behind them causing a silhouette? You’ll also notice that even though they may not be looking into the sun, or facing away from it, you still get very bright portions on your subject while other areas are in shadow. This is why those premium, or golden hours of the day are so important.
At midday due to the highness of the sun, your shadows almost completely disappear, which in effect flattens the landscape for photography. This makes for uninteresting images. Sunrise and sunset provide you with the right combination of light and shadow, a great photo-op, and more dramatic color in the sky.
Alright so you use the sun at the golden hours of the day. That doesn’t mean that you need the sun. You can still produce great images on cloudy or overcast days. The clouds actually diffuse the suns light, illuminating the subject with natural light while ridding the scenery of harsh shadows. A flash may be recommended if you find that your pictures appear flat. You might want to consider shooting in black and white also. Black and white is an excellent choice for overcast days because of the dramatic images you can get while the colors are normally washed out anyway.
Don’t let the rain scare you either. You can still get some great pictures because it adds an interesting element to the scene. It’s highly important however to protect your cameras and other optical equipment. Many photographers actually use a sandwich bag over their camera while they are shooting in order to keep it dry and protected. Why not bring a friend along to hold an umbrella or hold your bags of gear off the wet ground? Keep a positive attitude and use the rain to get stunning effects and produce some unexpected great shots.
Copyright 2009 – Don Bordua
Things to Consider When Buying a Digital Camera
What to look for when shopping for a Digital Camera. Identify your needs and wants, consider the budget you have available and balance the features offered with what you will typically need or use.
Supplying Our Needs Through Solar Energy
Using Renewable Solar Energy to reduce emissions, the depletion of fossil fuels, and save you money at the same time.
