Hi all! Dave Williams here again for another #TravelTuesday post!
Here in the UK, we’ve recently had all kinds of weather thrown at us. We’ve had hail, rain, howling wind, and bright sunshine, all on the same day. It got me thinking about how we often go searching for the best conditions to shoot great photos, but actually, this bad weather can be the best for photography.
Bad weather gives us great atmosphere. The contrast between the dingy clouds and bright, setting sun is particularly beautiful and offers us unique opportunities to shoot something that could be an “everyday” scene with great backgrounds.
The subtle, yet notable contrast between the warmth of the setting sun and the storm clouds rolling across the sky here, in this shot of Hohenzollern Castle in Germany, is a good example of how it’s true to say that stormy weather adds atmosphere to our photography.
Even if we remove the sun from our bad weather images, we can achieve some cool, atmospheric results. This shot of a cable car rising up through the clouds adds elements of danger and of the unknown, meaning that if we get our composition right and use the scale to tell a story, we also end up with something cool.
The thick fog in Iceland, which is the result of thermals and dew points following a snowstorm, leaves a hazy view of the horses searching for food as the sun lights up the fog behind them, giving us another awesome view of bad weather.
Also in Iceland, but this time on Diamond Beach, this iceberg is illuminated by the low light of the moon and sits in contrast against the rolling clouds of the night sky and crashing North Atlantic surf.
My point is that we shouldn’t let the weather deter us too much. Sure, sometimes it will just be so bad that we don’t want to get ourselves (or our gear) cold and wet, but the moment just after a storm or the sun peeking under a moody cloud at sunset can give us some great, unique photography conditions and we should always remember – bad weather makes great photos!
Much love
Dave
1 comment