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BADWEATHERSKILLS

T he phase ‘grey sky’ conjures a certain negativity; many of us complain of days when

we are deprived of sunshine. It is easy to get depressed under constant grey skies, yet there is a positive side to this weather.

The rst thing to understand is that the term ‘grey skies’ covers a multitude of weather conditions, ranging from a thick, impenetrable cloud to a gentle scattering in an otherwise blue sky, and each presents its own unique opportunity. My own take is to recall a quote by the motivational speaker Paul F Davis: “The sun always shines above the clouds.”

So, what are the positives?

A) LAYERS OF CLOUD helps to reduce contrast. When using a modern DSLR camera, while it will

have many assets, one of the main drawbacks is that the images are prone to appear too contrasty, especially in strong sunlight. This is rarely a problem in overcast light. Seasoned photographers often refer to such weather as ‘the softbox in the sky’. Should you wish to photograph a portrait or a gure out doors, the result are far more

attering under a grey sky.

B) GREY SKIES evokes a mood that works well in certain landscape situations. While we all respond to the picturesque landscape, with experience want to explore new avenues, capturing landscapes that express pathos and sadness; such scenes are complemented by a dark sky. One of the challenges, when shooting landscapes, is to ensure that the sky appears sympathetic to the mood of the picture.

C) LANDSCAPES taken on a cloudy day often work well in black and white. By eliminating colour, while emphasizing the tonal values, the mood of the landscape becomes considerably more apparent. Shoot in colour and convert to black and white with your favoured post-processing software to retain full image quality. A variation is to retain your image in colour, but to purposefully reduce the saturation; such images can look stunning.

Develop grey-sky thinkingDon’t be put off by dull weather – an bland sky doesn’t necessarily translate to a dreary photograph

Lens Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

Exposure 1/250 sec, f/18, ISO400

GRAIN SILOS, SOUTH DAKOTA “Shot just as the light was breaking directly behind me, the grey, brooding sky adds interest to the line of silos”

Select the Cloudy white balance setting to reduce colour casts on overcast days

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The Canon Magazine 35

09Reveal hidden details

If I had viewed this delicate tracery of trees set against a blue sky, much of the detail would have been lost. Seen against a very pale grey sky, the simple beauty of these trees becomes immediately more apparent.

10Exclude featureless skies

Don’t always feel compelled to include a sky when shooting landscapes; often the image can appear much improved without it. In this forest photo, the sky was flat and featureless and would have added very little to the image.

If the sky really is dreary, simply omit it altogether

The black-and-white treatment

works well on this overcast

irrigated field scene, shot in

Southern California, USA

Because the trees lining this French canal aren’t backlit by a

bright blue sky, detail is revealed

Thick cloud enables the sun to feature behind the

abandoned grain elevator, in Madoc, Montana, USA

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06Set the right white balance

When including a grey sky in your landscape, it is essential that it appears free of colour cast; to ensure this happens, you need to select the correct white balance. The AWB option is remarkably reliable, but if want to make sure, select Cloudy, which accurately measures 6000 Kelvins of light, typical of an overcast day.

07Emphasize the tones

In overcast light the emphasis on your images should be tonal; whether you retain your image in colour, or decide to convert it to black and white, the tones communicate a mood. Achieving this in bright sunlight would have proven difficult.

08Shoot into the sun

Grey skies provide a rare opportunity where you are able to include the sun within the composition, without encountering underexposure. As it remains thinly veiled by cloud, it offers a much needed feature within an otherwise blank sky.