Cloudy day shooting
Jan 30, 2015 09:57:41 #
n3eg wrote:
And there's a long running debate on another forum about the safety of using flash on newborn babies. At least they won't attack until they are teenagers...
So that is why they are blinded to not to listen to adults at that age!!!! All because of light at birth! lol
Jan 30, 2015 09:59:55 #
OldEarl
Loc: Northeast Kansas
ray mraz wrote:
Any ideas on how to bring out the best, the most interesting, the most quality in cloudy day photography?
Working at the lake with clouds and fog, I prefer early morning or late afternoon. The color of the light (light temperature) has a pinkish tint in the morning. This impacts the perceived color of the subjects. You have a more limited range of "zones" so you can get a more even tonal range. I have a preference for softer colors in my color shots and value tonal range over stark contrast.
Jan 30, 2015 10:28:11 #
Use your flash...but diffuse it. No one likes a head on shot, not even animals. Remember the four foot rule when shooting birds.
Jan 30, 2015 10:28:20 #
jack schade wrote:
A cloudy day can be great for shooting flowers or leaves. It creates a great soft box. Bring along a spray bottle for water droplets and have a good time.
Jack
Jack
:thumbup: :thumbup: a spray bottle is a great trick on flowers and leaves. I have also put a mixture of olive oil and a little water in the botle and it works well to.
Jim D
Jan 30, 2015 10:44:44 #
Ka2azman wrote:
So that is why they are blinded to not to listen to adults at that age!!!! All because of light at birth! lol
Yeah, they seem to slowly lose that ability to listen, don't they? I remember my son telling me at age 5, "Mom, you know everything!" Instinctively I said to him..."Hold that thought"! LOL
It worked....sort of. Haha.
Jan 30, 2015 12:06:41 #
Overcast is great shooting weather. I always a CPL and do not include the horizon/sky in my shots. I am currently using "Waiting for Spring" as a theme for many of images lately as that lends to getting shots of bare plants etc.
Jan 30, 2015 12:25:39 #
Jan 30, 2015 14:30:05 #
amfoto1
Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
I love shooting on overcast days. It's the best natural lighting possible for many subject. Might need to use a circular polarizer, to reduce the reflections of the pale sky off foliage and such. Also may need to boost saturation and contrast a little in post-processing. Just minimize the amount of sky in the shot (i.e., it's not a great time for scenic shots... but is excellent for wildlife, sports, many macro shots, etc.)
We don't see enough overcast days here in Sunny California. So I often shoot in the shade instead, for similar benefits.
I usually don't use a flash on overcast days... no fill is needed since shadows are already softened and illumination is fairly even. Stong sunlight toward midday is typically when I will use flash the most, to fill and open up deep shadows.
We don't see enough overcast days here in Sunny California. So I often shoot in the shade instead, for similar benefits.
I usually don't use a flash on overcast days... no fill is needed since shadows are already softened and illumination is fairly even. Stong sunlight toward midday is typically when I will use flash the most, to fill and open up deep shadows.
Jan 30, 2015 14:31:44 #
Overcast days can bring out the best in your photos. Flash has a tendency to blow out your images and most cameras of today can be adjusted to shoot in just about any kind of light without flash. After you have been shooting for a few years, you can always pick out which shots had flash used on them. I'm speaking of nature shots of course and not portrait or commercial photography.
Jan 30, 2015 16:10:00 #
Jan 30, 2015 16:16:08 #
ray mraz wrote:
Thanks Gbrown I try to avoid postprocessing.
Unless your camera is set up for each particular shot every hour or so some PP is a must.
Getting it right 'in camera' is an aspiration not an instruction.
Before PP there was a Dark Room (self or technician) and chemicals and lightbulbs to alter development times so there are very few if any pure photographs out there.
Jan 30, 2015 16:26:29 #
ray mraz wrote:
Any ideas on how to bring out the best, the most interesting, the most quality in cloudy day photography?
Good question Ray. Since you haven't mentioned what camera you use, I can only speak of Canon bodies. Canon has a feature in the menu called "picture style." That feature allows you to increase / decrease 1) contrast, 2) sharpness, 3) saturation and 4) tonality. Nikon's have that same feature but may call it by a different name. Fact is, it allows you to have fun capturing images under different lighting conditions such as cloudy days. Be sure to set your white balance to "cloudy" and don't rely on AWB. Have fun and I'll attach one cloudy example. Best, J. Goffe
Costa Rica in the clouds
Jan 30, 2015 16:34:20 #
Edmund Dworakowski wrote:
Cloudy days are my favorite time to shoot. Living at the Jersey Shore, I have plenty of opportunities to shoot those big white cumulous nimbus...
I use Lightroom, and like to turn down the highlight slider way down to about -80 and bump the contrast up a bit. I also like to bump up the structure slider son my Vivesa 2 plug-in to make those clouds look very angry.
Using a 10 stop ND filter can add a very interesting and dreamlike effect, especially if shot in B&W.
I use Lightroom, and like to turn down the highlight slider way down to about -80 and bump the contrast up a bit. I also like to bump up the structure slider son my Vivesa 2 plug-in to make those clouds look very angry.
Using a 10 stop ND filter can add a very interesting and dreamlike effect, especially if shot in B&W.
:thumbup: I also like the Vivesa 2 structure slider!
Jan 30, 2015 16:35:21 #
hlmichel wrote:
I shot birds at the beach with my speedlight. The gulls would fall to the sand when the light hit their eyes.
I was soon in the middle of a screeching cloud of angry gulls. I think that was the last time I used a speedlight on animals.
I was soon in the middle of a screeching cloud of angry gulls. I think that was the last time I used a speedlight on animals.
Are you sure the problem wasn't the laser you were using to aim the speedlight? Maybe the gulls weren't crashing, just grounding themselves and surrendering before they got shot out of the sky!
Jan 30, 2015 16:41:19 #
Chinasea wrote:
Use your flash...but diffuse it. No one likes a head on shot, not even animals. Remember the four foot rule when shooting birds.
Since birds ony have two feet, what is the four foot rule? :lol:
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