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So, if you had your pick of weather in which to go out photographing, what would it be?
If you are a snapshooter you will almost certainly pick a nice sunny day. If you have a bit more experience, you would like thin cloud veiling the sun to cut the contrast that even digital sensors struggle with. If you have been around a long time, cloudy bright looks more attractive.
Some want super clouds to sit over their landscape images, others like me typically don't shoot sky so clouds aren't a big deal other than as a filter for the light. People who put some effort into their photography often like early morning and around sunset for the softer light, longer shadows and warmer colour of the light which can transform a landscape.
If you are really serious about your photography though, you do the best you can but take what you are given and adjust your photographs to the kind of lighting on offer.
My preference is for a cloudy day with the sky unevenly bright - a really dull day with no cloud detail at all can be very difficult to photograph, but I have photographs from noon on a sunny day to two hours after sunset, with the meter barely reading, storm light, flat light, light reflected off of cliffs into deep shade. Noon may mean short shadows on ground, but what about canyon walls, or buildings - vertical surfaces suddenly acqure long shadows.
Variable cloud cover gives you the chance to photograph in just about any level of contrasting light from flat to soot and chalk, simply by waiting for the next cloud to be in the right position relative to the sun. You can almost dial up your desired lighting. Of course, I can't promise the wind isn't going to suddenly come up just when the light is right, but patience will out, most days.
Mind you, it makes a difference whether you want black and white or colour images - warm evening light doesn't mean much in black and white, but a lower light source and longer shadows does.
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8 comments:
My preferred light is pre/post storm light and right after it has rained. I also love overcast days, especially when I'm shooting macros. Of course, while shooting macros, I prefer no breeze at all, but we can't have everything.
When I'm shooting black and white, I prefer it to be sunny. Sometimes, if it is sunny and I want to shoot, I'll shoot with the intention of making my prints in black and white, but I haven't done much of that lately.
Right now shooting in the fog/mist is my favorite. Whenever it gets that was get out and shoot as much as I can.
I'm definitely a sucker for the long shadows cast by a low sun in winter or in the morning/evening. I have found that strong, harsh overhead light can suit things like harbours, where the bleached effect seems to work so well with the subject - ropes and crates and rusty boats, peeling paint, etc etc.
But I have to admit, my one real craving just now is for the mist. There's just such a limited amount of it during my non-working hours that I haven't managed any misty pictures yet. The minute I get the chance, I'll be heading for some nice old gnarly trees!
If I were forced, at gunpoint, to choose a preferred light, I'd probably pick a veiled sun. It's not as dramatic as early morning/late evening light, but it seems to suit the broadest range of subject matter. For my style (wandering, exploring, driving with no destination in mind), that's important.
However, different light gives a new look to any subject matter, so really I'll work with ANY light, including high noon. Never know.
All good comments. Thanks people.
I keep waiting for the time when I am out with a camera and there is post-storm evening light on the trees with an intensely dark sky.
Other than that - I'll take any weather that doesn't keep me inside!
Well, it is hard to have ONE favorite type of light, but I suppose that near the top of the list would be broken clouds with some wind such that sunny and relatively shaded areas change from moment to moment. However, I'm a sucker for almost any kind of interesting clouds.
If there are no clouds and I'm shooting for color I often find myself excluding most of the sky from the frame - even landscapes end up being mostly land, as it were.
However, I also like perfectly clear dawn/predawn or sunset/dusk light and will often make the sky an important part of such images.
It depends: do i have an assistant to hold an umbrella over the camera and tripod while we both get soaking wet?
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