Overcast skies create soft, diffused light that’s great for portraits but often lacks contrast. To overcome this, a smart mix of lighting techniques and gear choices can transform your shots.
Coming to you from Mark Wallace, this detailed video explores how to handle changing lighting when photographing on overcast days. Using a softbox to balance natural light, Wallace creates flattering directional lighting for the model. He relies on TTL metering instead of manual adjustments, allowing him to react quickly as light shifts. Adjusting flash exposure compensation by 2/3 of a stop, he ensures consistent results. Wallace emphasizes the importance of using histograms and eye judgments for fine-tuning exposures, providing viewers with actionable insights for similar scenarios.
Wallace also shares his thought process on lens selection and depth of field. Using an 85mm lens, he shoots wide open at f/1.4 to achieve a shallow depth of field, blurring out distractions in the background. At 10 feet from the subject, this setup ensures sharpness on both eyes while maintaining a beautifully soft background. He highlights how aperture priority mode and face-priority metering simplify capturing well-exposed portraits, even with dynamic elements like moving clouds.
One unexpected twist in the video is Wallace's use of a 16-35mm wide angle lens for close-up shots. While unconventional for portraiture, this choice adds a three-dimensional effect and environmental context to the images. A hard light reflector complements the overcast sky, allowing for creative experimentation. Wallace encourages you to take risks with your shots, noting that unsuccessful experiments can be discarded, but missed opportunities can’t be recovered. This mindset is a helpful reminder to push boundaries in your work. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Wallace.
If you would like to continue learning about how to light a portrait, be sure to check out "Illuminating The Face: Lighting for Headshots and Portraits With Peter Hurley!"
