Bright sunshine can be a gift to the photographer, creating deep shadows and contrast that accentuate shapes and forms and lend your images a vivid intensity. But the flat, gray light of an overcast day has its own special ambiance and mood that can be a better fit for more contemplative scenes.
There’s nothing like bright sun shining in a clear blue sky to inspire the urge to grab your camera and head outdoors to take pictures. By contrast, nothing so reinforces the urge to stay indoors and hunker down on a comfy couch as the bleak, windswept damp of a gray, overcast day. There’s a natural tendency to view such weather as doubly disagreeable for outdoor photography, offering, as it does, the potential misery of getting cold and wet for the reward of struggling to create compelling images in a flat, unforgiving light that seems to suck the texture out of every scene.
But this perspective may underscore a failure of the imagination—an unwillingness to step outside of a creative comfort zone that could cost the photographer some wonderful photographic opportunities. That is the theme of the thoughtful, personal perspective presented in this new video from The Photographic Eye.
This video really resonated with me, as I have realized a great deal of enjoyment and creative opportunity in my own photography, shooting in the flat, gray light of the kind of overcast days that it describes. There is a sort of quiet, subtle, and understated stillness to this light that can really complement some subjects, the broken-down and abandoned farm buildings featured in the video being a perfect example.
This video serves as a very gentle exhortation to reconsider the often-overlooked allure of the subtle light that a cloudy, overcast day can bring to your photography. It nicely demonstrates how a willingness to reframe your photographic perspective can yield new creative opportunities that you might have previously missed.
A hidden gem? I don't know that there is anything hidden about it. For many types of photography, we read the weather updates continually, looking for overcast days in the forecast so that we can be sure to get out and shoot when the sun isn't shining. Last fall, I had to cancel two cross-country trips because there was nothing but sunshine at the places I had planned to travel to. Overcast conditions are what we long for and wait for and base plans on, and there is nothing hidden or obscure about that at all.
Your experience of this Tom, might not be the same as many photographers. I see a lot more "sunny 16" photos out there than I see grey and overcast.
For just general overall outdoor photos, yes. But for outdoor macro work and for outdoor work done in woodlands, under a tree canopy, I see way way way more work done in overcast conditions. Most of us work in several different genres of outdoor photography, hence most of is have certain shoots that we can only do in shade, and certain shoots that we can only do in sun, etc.
Currently I want to photograph the Northern Pintail courtship flights before all the female Pintails find a mate for the upcoming year. That is a shoot that I only want to do in full sunshine, or a mix of fog and sun (fog, but NOT clouds or overcast). So I am checking the weather every day to see when there will be a string of clear days in the Sacramento Valley of northern California.
Conversely, when I want to photograph Whitetail Deer in deciduous forest habitat, and do so during the rut when the females are actively coming into heat, I demand overcast / cloudy conditions for that. If the forecast calls for only clear sunshine, then I am forced to abandon my plans and shoot deer in a different part of the country, where they spend time in meadows and prairies instead of in the woods.
In either case, overcast days are not "hidden". Conversely, the weather is something that we are very conscious of at all times, as we know exactly what types of images are most optimally captured in sunshine, and which are most optimally captured in diffused light.
> So I am checking the weather every day to see when there will be a string of clear days in the Sacramento Valley of northern California.
Next Tuesday through Thursday should be just right, assuming you are heading for SNWR (I just got back).
Thanks! Although the only good day I am seeing on weather.com is Thursday, and that is just "mostly sunny" and not "clear" or "sunny".
I went in 2020 and it was nothing but full clear sun for days on end. I ended up staying a week and a half when I had only intended to stay for 5 days, because of the great run of weather. But then when I wanted to return in 2021, it was overcast to some degree or other for the entirety of December, so I didn't go until January. And then of course when I got there it was already too late for perfection because most of the hens had already found mates and there weren't nearly as many courtship flights as there had been the previous year. It ended up being a wasted trip, in all honesty.
If I get at least 5 consecutive days of totally clear conditions in December, then I will bold down there in a heartbeat, even if I miss Christmas with family (like I did in 2020). But I can't justify the investment of time and money for just one or one and a half clear days. It takes longer than that to get enough images to make it worth the investment.
So, how did you do there? I have never had very good opportunities at the main Sacramento Refuge because of the way it is laid out, but the satellite refuges of Colusa and Llano Seco are fabulous for Waterfowl photography in December!
I've been posting stuff on Instagram (@catsaregods if that's allowed here) ever since, including turkey vulture, snow geese, RTH, pied-billed grebes, gadwalls, and a juvenile bald eagle! Tried to make it to Colusa too but it got dark too quickly, thanks for the hint!
Agree... Even though there was cloud cover all day , I decided to go out this afternoon and the light only broke for a few minutes here and there but it was so good when it did. I also pull out ND filters as well. The other thing to remember is to adjust your white balance. This can help too.
I live on the South Coast of Western Australia. There is pretty much cloud everyday.
Those of us photographers who have a deep learning of light do crave some cloudy days like fall leaf colors for one. As you would look through images of fall images few have sky. And birding photos not many in bright sun light. A reason is bright sunlight on a subject has bright reflected light giving a camera no detail in subject and off colors. On bright sunny days you need to use zebras active to tone down highlights and other settings to lower the exposure most times getting a dim image where the shadow slider needs be put all the way to the right, and if your camera has a +/- EV dial you will turn it to the max negative, like the A7RM5 goes to -5. Again some bracketing to get a dark image to blend with a bright.
Ever capture any bird in bright light you find hardly any detail in feathers and colors are off. For fall colors of the crayon box verity of the many detail of even a landscape there will be no depth or sharpness between trees for a cloudy day gives contrast from nature made has well as awesome real colors also if you have some of the cloudy sky in the capture it will be blown out with no detail but you will want that detail so you turn that EV dial neg but as a backup image you do a Bracketed shot where at least to have several images to work with or combined. Hard to do Bracketed capture of birds but for feather detail and low shine a cloudy or even a semi cloudy with a passing cloud that nature provides as a blessing but no matter you will get the capture and play with it.
All is hard to notice for your brain adapts to the many light and cloud or bright days BUT just stand and look around on either day and you will see the differences in a color of an object being a bright shinny or a soft textured look with a color shade given by has only nature can. To see the difference the camera sees just capture an object on a sunny and a cloudy day or just layout your crayon box of wax tools, your eye and brain may not see the difference but your camera will. Example night captures in a dark place like a beach with dark sky over water, your eyes can not capture the brightness of star light nor your brain develop the colors of the sky or even vegetation of colors leaves and many night astro photographers will darken a night image in post for no one would believe the colors at night saying you photoshopped this but not.
Have you ever gone out when in a very dark place like a farm way out away from light but on a full moon night full of stars above with Natures LED light above and capture the colors, you will see the real color of the night sky and all the vegetation colors say a fall night with leaf varied colors your brain sees it all like daytime BUT with contrast and sharper details this is how your camera captures the light on a very dark night. Just saying stop and set down look around and Study the Light. Why the so many White Balance selections?