What and how to photograph on an overcast day?

v1fan · Nov 29, 2015

On sunny days I usually take lots of photos, mainly street photography and urban landscape, but on cloudy days I feel completely lost. Nothing attracts me and I end up shooting very little.

Do you have any tips that has helped you?

Thanks in advance.

Henry Falkner · Nov 29, 2015

ArtMar said:

Of course you can. But I prefer not to chop off shadow and highlight detail

Henry

--
Henry Falkner - SH-2, SH-1, SH-50, SP-570UZ

Galleries by Henry Falkner

www.pbase.com

MoreorLess · Nov 30, 2015

Generally I find overcast weather can make for excellent conditions for shooting in woodland. When your looking to shoot wider scenes especially directly sunlight can often be a hindrance casting masses of shadows, causing reflects on foliage and generally washing out colour.

Joseph V. Morris · Nov 30, 2015

justinwonnacott said:
. . . .

Cloudy days are fabulous opportunities to look at subtleties of colour that are lost in harsh contrasty lighting conditions. A bit like portraiture , , , , soft and luminous light is often the answer when harsh shadows just hide nuance and expression.

This. I'd have to say that most of my more interesting captures have occurred on cloudy/overcast days. Or in golden/blue hour settings. If I walk out the door to confront bright sunshine on a cloudless day, I'm just as likely to turn around and go back in as to continue on my way to look for good pix. Of course, this may be related to the fact that most of these pictures are taken in the UK where the possibilities seem almost limitless.

The next best thing is cumulus clouds skimming over a nearby valley or mountain. I can stay in one place for hours taking pictures and no two are ever the same.

PerL · Nov 30, 2015

v1fan said:
On sunny days I usually take lots of photos, mainly street photography and urban landscape, but on cloudy days I feel completely lost. Nothing attracts me and I end up shooting very little.

Do you have any tips that has helped you?

Thanks in advance.

Portraits - benefits from lack of shadows and the soft light.

Moody landscapes.

richardplondon · Nov 30, 2015

MoreorLess said:
Generally I find overcast weather can make for excellent conditions for shooting in woodland. When your looking to shoot wider scenes especially directly sunlight can often be a hindrance casting masses of shadows, causing reflects on foliage and generally washing out colour.

Yes, also in the city or town. Above a narrow street, say, an overcast sky acts as a big natural 'softbox'. Often you get MORE (usable) lighting into all the nooks and crannies of the built environment when it's light overcast, compared with when it is sunny.

You can expose more to the right, IOW. Silky shadowing, more materiality.

Erice, Sicily

tray48 · Nov 30, 2015

Foggy and rainy days are my favorite times to take pictures

Paul B Jones · Nov 30, 2015

A bird!

Drizzly morning Yellow Warbler, Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada

I love beautiful morning and evening light, but I find overcast days are more productive for photography. Too soon the golden hour becomes a sun-blasted wasteland. Cloud cover allows softer light and passable shooting conditions through the day.

--
Paul B Jones
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbjones/sets

Michael EOS5D · Nov 30, 2015

seoulsurvivor said:
Also, a great opportunity to play around with shooting in B&W.

Like he said,B&W. Concentrate more on texture and shape than color. Besides, you can get some very dramatic looking shots, day or night this way.

Henry Falkner · Nov 30, 2015

You have excellent examples for overcast weather shooting.

Roses work well also -

Henry

--
Henry Falkner - SH-2, SH-1, SH-50, SP-570UZ

Galleries by Henry Falkner

www.pbase.com

buybuybuy · Nov 30, 2015

You can dress up a drab overcast day in PP. For e.g., here's a random shot from the Internet:

Before:

92844bf195ad4405ab7cd5e0100e710b.jpg.png

After:

16f42498e1284e05be75321d69848f48.jpg.png

Your style might differ. You don't need to add as much color, for instance.

DaveOl · Nov 30, 2015

When I have done family group photos, I always have people stand under a large shade tree because of the more even lighting. Essentially the same as a cloudy day.

Buzz Lightyear · Dec 1, 2015

dwight3 said:
Take a photo of some scenery including the grey sky.

When you get home, use Photoshop to change the sky from grey to a photo of a nice blue sky with clouds that you have from a previous photo. That will give you some practice in photoshop work and will help you do things like that in the future.

OMG - you actually said "Photoshop" on Dpreview, and even advised using it on a photo! You will burn in hell tomorrow - if not sooner!

Henry Falkner · Dec 1, 2015

Buzz Lightyear said:
dwight3 said:

Take a photo of some scenery including the grey sky.

When you get home, use Photoshop to change the sky from grey to a photo of a nice blue sky with clouds that you have from a previous photo. That will give you some practice in photoshop work and will help you do things like that in the future.

Click to expand...

OMG - you actually said "Photoshop" on Dpreview, and even advised using it on a photo! You will burn in hell tomorrow - if not sooner!

I did use Photoshop on these, but just dramatized them a little -

http://www.pbase.com/hfalkner/henry122

Henry

--
Henry Falkner - SH-2, SH-1, SH-50, SP-570UZ

Galleries by Henry Falkner

www.pbase.com

v1fan · Dec 1, 2015

Thanks everyone for your input.

KenEis · Dec 1, 2015

Suggestions

1. Take your pictures of closer in subjects. Overcast/rainy/hazy landscapes become lower contrast with distance. Get in closer .

2. Go to B&W where textures are emphasized by wetted leaves etc.

3. Now here is a surprise... Use HDR. Everyone uses HDR to cope with high contrast subjects but I have found color can be enhanced greatly by using a 3 bracket (.5EV separation) HDR. The added color information from multiple images give you more realistic images then one image where the saturation is pushed.

ecube · Dec 1, 2015

v1fan said:
On sunny days I usually take lots of photos, mainly street photography and urban landscape, but on cloudy days I feel completely lost. Nothing attracts me and I end up shooting very little.

Do you have any tips that has helped you?

Thanks in advance.

Dark, GLOOMY overcast day gives us opportunity for not so generic shots.

Perhaps these sample shots would give you an idea.

Sometimes, a rainbow or double rainbow will appear from nowhere for practically split second. Rainbow generally becomes visible when the sunlight is from behind your back.

--
ecube

MediaArchivist · Dec 1, 2015

--
Want a roXplosion!?

buybuybuy · Dec 1, 2015

Another solution: compositing.

Original pic:

Modified pic:

049c8bfa76df4d6f9448cf2226d73f60.jpg.png

ludwik123 · Dec 1, 2015

v1fan said:
On sunny days I usually take lots of photos, mainly street photography and urban landscape, but on cloudy days I feel completely lost. Nothing attracts me and I end up shooting very little.

Do you have any tips that has helped you?

Thanks in advance.

Overcast and foggy days are an opportunity to take photos that are very different in character to ones on sunny days. Such as.

sportyaccordy · Dec 1, 2015

ArtMar said:

Yea, I was gonna say.... he left a lot of meat on that bone. I would probably push the saturation even further personally.

What and how to photograph on an overcast day?

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