Photography On Cloudy Days

Cloudy days aren’t as bad as they may seem when it comes to taking photos, although the subject matter tends to be less obvious. Here are some photo opportunities for cloudy and even drizzly days:

Dramatic Skies

Summer storm clouds passing in front of the sun can provide a very interesting and dramatic subject matter, such as the example shown. The moist air serves to capture the suns rays bursting through the cloud and the high contrast brings excellent definition. If you're in the car and have a camera handy it's always worth stopping to capture these as opportunities can be few and far between.

Streams

A cloudy, drizzly day can be great for shooting streams. The rocks or stones are wet and glistening, and the lower light allows for longer shutter speeds which will give that silky effect on the water. Avoid any sky in the photograph and use a tripod if possible with the camera on aperture priority setting. If you don’t have a tripod then the camera needs to be held steady somehow if you want a long exposure. Even beeter is to use a remote shutter control to ensure good sharpness. The other benefit of a lack of sunlight is that a polarizing filter is not needed to avoid capturing too much reflection on the water. If you do have a polarizer handy then this can cancel out any reflection that there is while allowing an even longer exposure time. Hence you can achieve an even greater silk effect on the flowing water.

Fog

If you are lucky enough to have fog as well as cloud then here’s how to make the best of it. First aim at the fog and press the shutter halfway down to obtain a light reading. Then increase the exposure by a single f-stop in the exposure compensation control on the camera (assuming you have this). This helps to capture that soft, foggy feel in the photo.

Rainbows

A key accessory for taking shots of rainbows is a polarising filter. As well as bringing out any cloud definition and enriching the blueness of any visible sky between the clouds, the colours of the rainbow will be more vibrant. Another tip is to find a vista point where the rainbow appears to descend into an interesting subject, for example a hillside or into the sea.

Landscapes and Buildings

Although landscapes and buildings are made to look their best in beautful sunlight you can still get decent shots on cloudy days. Unless the the clouds are particularly interesting or dramatic with colour and definition, try to avoid as much sky as possible in the composition of the shot. Cloudy days bring softer shadows and more saturated colours so these can be used to advantage. If the light is particularly low and high depth of field is needed, say in a stretching landscape shot, then a tripod is recommended rather than increase the ISO setting (or using a higher ISO film) in order to ensure sharpness and maximise colour saturation.