Gray days: Suppose you take a vacation and every day turns into a gray one. What's the best way to get decent photos?

Toment Loc: FL, IL

Suppose you take a vacation and every day turns into a gray one. What's the best way to get decent photos?

CO

It's best to avoid having totally, white overcast skies in your photos. Try to take photos that eliminate the sky. Overcast skies can be good in that it reduces contrast and allows you to bring out more detail in shadow areas. If you shoot .jpeg files check to see that your white balance is on cloudy.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Toment wrote:

Suppose you take a vacation and every day turns into a gray one. What's the best way to get decent photos?

Well, it would depend entirely on what you are trying to shoot?
A good flash can go a long ways to adding a bit of local contrast, color and highlight.
And of course if you're shooting people the flash will carry the photo.
Depends???
SS

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

The time before and after our obnoxiously relentless spring rainfall, may include light that actually enhances the color of floral subjects, architecture, trees, clouds, etc. With a sturdy spring jacket, get your camera, set it up thoughtfully, go outside and enjoy new growth in many forms. /Ralph

jcboy3

Toment wrote:

Suppose you take a vacation and every day turns into a gray one. What's the best way to get decent photos?

Go back when the weather is nicer.

Use a flash and shoot closer, portraits or architecture. Be sure you can use off-camera flash for better lighting.

Get proficient in post processing; get some lighting plugins.

Shoot at night. If you're in the city, the glow on the clouds can add drama.

Be sure to bring a tripod; long exposures during day or night as well as providing a light stand for off-camera flash.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

CO wrote:

It's best to avoid having totally, white overcast skies in your photos. Try to take photos that eliminate the sky. Overcast skies can be good in that it reduces contrast and allows you to bring out more detail in shadow areas. If you shoot .jpeg files check to see that your white balance is on cloudy.

Thanks
Good points

Toment Loc: FL, IL

SharpShooter wrote:

Well, it would depend entirely on what you are trying to shoot?
A good flash can go a long ways to adding a bit of local contrast, color and highlight.
And of course if you're shooting people the flash will carry the photo.
Depends???
SS

Thanks for the tip.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

rjaywallace wrote:

The time before and after our obnoxiously relentless spring rainfall, may include light that actually enhances the color of floral subjects, architecture, trees, clouds, etc. With a sturdy spring jacket, get your camera, set it up thoughtfully, go outside and enjoy new growth in many forms. /Ralph

Good advice!

Toment Loc: FL, IL

jcboy3 wrote:

Go back when the weather is nicer.

Use a flash and shoot closer, portraits or architecture. Be sure you can use off-camera flash for better lighting.

Get proficient in post processing; get some lighting plugins.

Shoot at night. If you're in the city, the glow on the clouds can add drama.

Be sure to bring a tripod; long exposures during day or night as well as providing a light stand for off-camera flash.

Thanks for the tips.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

If the sky is white (no cloud definition) I would minimize the sky as much as possible. If there is cloud definition, I would should in RAW and expose for the sky, make multiple copies of the RAW file (adjusting the exposure) and combine them in an HDR photo.

I wouldn't let a gray day get me down; I would take my camera and go out walking (or driving), looking for good photographic subjects, and I'd photograph them. I have "go to places" in my area that I regularly photograph; I enjoy photographing them under various atmospheric conditions. Same subject and I wind up with a totally different take on it!

Photocraig

Think of the sky as the world's largest Soft Box. Take thee opportunity to move in and make people portraits and detail and texture and color studies of the flora, fauna and architecture. Cloudy days are detail days. Stand on a box and aim down. ALSO, shoot RAW and process in B&W.

Bill Munny Loc: Aurora, Colorado

I took a 4 day shoot into the high mountains. For the total time it was overcast plus forest fire smoke. I ended up replacing the sky (PP) in the photos that were worth keeping. A lot of work but necessary to produce pleasant pics. I used Affinity software.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

Bill Munny wrote:

I took a 4 day shoot into the high mountains. For the total time it was overcast plus forest fire smoke. I ended up replacing the sky (PP) in the photos that were worth keeping. A lot of work but necessary to produce pleasant pics. I used Affinity software.

I agree PP is the way to go. I'm using Luminar

Toment Loc: FL, IL

photoman022 wrote:

If the sky is white (no cloud definition) I would ... (show quote)

Thanks for the sage advice

Toment Loc: FL, IL

Photocraig wrote:

Think of the sky as the world's largest Soft Box. Take thee opportunity to move in and make people portraits and detail and texture and color studies of the flora, fauna and architecture. Cloudy days are detail days. Stand on a box and aim down. ALSO, shoot RAW and process in B&W.

Good points all esp the perspective idea
Thanks