In this 2-day wet weather event in Zion National Park, I am always ready to exploit a short break in the clouds, known as “sucker holes.” This particular break on the West Temple with some fresh snow was about a 10-minute event early in the morning. It was the best light of the day. I often feel that telephoto compression emphasizes the dramatic clouds and light. Using a wider angle lens would have revealed too much dull and grey clouds that were above this splash of light.
Canon R5, Canon 70-200mm f/4 lens at 138mm
ISO 100, 1/25th second @ f/11 on a tripod with
Breakthrough Photography X4 polarizer.
Here’s a great quote from famous photographer and author, Jay Maisel: “You have spectacular light and difficult light. Learn to work with the light you have.” Yes, we all want epic light for all of our outdoor photo shoots. Having spent 37 years in Alaska, I had to learn how to shoot salable and impactful images in difficult light, which is challenging and frustrating at times. If you live or photograph a lot on the West Coast or at northern latitudes, winter months produce frequent periods of bad weather with lifeless grey clouds and flat low light. Use the opportunity to challenge your design skills. Some of my best stock sellers including wildlife imagery were made in less than ideal Alaska weather in what we call “thick light.”
In this blog I will share tips and things I’ve learned and show you how to make high impact images in difficult light. I discuss what subjects to shoot, best conditions to go out in, best techniques, what to avoid and protecting your gear from the elements.
ADVANTAGES OF SHOOTING IN STORMY WEATHER AND FLAT DULL LIGHT
I love fog and drizzle. You just have to find the right subject matter to shoot in such flat and dreary light. This view of Alaska’s Little Susitna River with fall colors really fit the mood. The fog helps create soft pastel colors and is also hiding a part of the road and ugly guard rails in the background. The dreary light allowed me to to use a really slow shutter to show the motion of the water.
Canon R5, Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens at 50mm
ISO 100, 15 seconds @ f/11 on a tripod
Breakthrough Photography X4 Dark Polarizer which combines a polarizer with 6 stops of ND.
Color saturation: pastel colors are often better revealed in wet weather and flat light. Rain darkened tree trunks can add extra punch and contrast to forest fall color landscapes.
Unique mood: dramatic low clouds in mountain and canyon country create unique moodiness not found with clear blue skies and fair-weather clouds.
Fog and in some cases, falling snow, are a photographer’s friend, creating soft transitions from foreground to background and making it easier to create
artistic horizonless images. It often hides distracting elements like houses, cell towers and even powerlines. It creates a soothing and calming feel to images.
I love fog and wildlife. It does two things: 1-it simplifies the background as it fades away into the distance and, 2-I think colors are more saturated (except for nice backlight) and anything inside a forest setting has nice soft contrast.
WHAT TO SHOOT IN BAD WEATHER
PRO TIP: Urban or travel landscapes photograph well in the rain, during the blue hour. Wet pavement creates nice reflections and warm artificial lights really stand out in the blue ambient light of dawn and dusk.
Good travel photography involves both wilderness and urban landscapes. The best subject(s) to photograph in dark, wet weather are urban landscapes in the blue hour. Yes, you can make great urban landscapes in clear skies too. However, when flat light and uninteresting clouds don’t showcase grand landscapes, these lighting conditions do work for showcasing urban landscapes with the right timing. There is a sweet spot of about 15 minutes when typical artificial lights are within dynamic range of the ambient light. In this scene of an iconic church in Taos, New Mexico, this scene comes to life simply by waiting for said blue hour. Wet surfaces just amplify the colors and luster of artificial light as is evident in the next frame.
The only difference between this image and the first one, besides slight framing differences, is timing. I just simply waited for the blue hour’s ambient light to balance with the artificial lights of the church. No magic, just timing! This simple technique can work with a lit tent on an overcast day or a full big city skyscape.
Panoramic style landscapes are really challenging in flat light with dull featureless skies. The exception is when you have peaks and terrain above interesting low clouds, or, dark dramatic clouds that add visual interest to the sky.
These things photograph well in flat light:
- Interior forest scenes
- Flowers and fall foliage
- Small streams with moving water
- Glacier ice
- Scenes with great color and graphic design that you can shoot down on from a high point
When photographing Alaska bears or moose, both dark animals, I prefer flat overcast light over hard sun (except for sunrise and sunset of course. You can’t have everything!)
I actually prefer cloudy and wet days over hard sun when photographing Alaska coastal brown bears like this fella in Lake Clark National Park. The fall colors are nice and bright and the contrast is well under control. I am shooting with a long lens and deliberately looking for simple backgrounds with color. As you can see from the drops on the lake in the foreground it is raining. Fortunately, I had a cover over me. I keep my camera in a waterproof bag when not in use. I also carry several washcloth sized micro fiber cloths which are widely available at home building stores to keep moisture on the lens and camera to a minimum.
BEST CONDITIONS TO SHOOT IN BAD WEATHER
PRO TIP: rain or snow all night? Get out in the morning even if it’s still dreary! Stormy mornings often present the best chances to capture low clouds clinging to ridges, ravines and canyon walls as well as fog and mist for mood and atmosphere.
Shooting fresh snow and falling snow produces a peaceful and soothing feeling to images when you go for a very high key look – that is lots of bright white space. I especially like the elimination and/or softening of hard horizon lines. The key to making this type of image work is to add bold color and contrast such as this scene of the Court of the Patriarchs in Zion National Park. These events are rare here so I work them as hard as I can.
Falling snow and fog have similar visual effects on light-they create soft or no horizon lines or eliminate and produce a pure white, high key background for any bold colored subject such as this trail runner in Taos, New Mexico. Use of my trusty 70-200mm lens helps emphasize the falling snow against her dark outfit. Almost every color goes with white, although I think bold, dark colors work best.
Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 70-200mm f/4 lens at 155mm
ISO 400, 1/1000th second @ f/7.1 hand held.
Low clouds and fog are the magic sauce for moody and soothing bad weather images. Go out and make nice moody images anytime low clouds (ragged stratus) and/or fog form BELOW ridges, peaks and canyon rims. This usually takes place after at least several hours of continuous rain/snow during winter months. When shooting moody mountain/canyon landscapes with low clouds, be sure to minimize sky above the horizon line. Conditions are usually best the morning after an all-night precipitation event if you shoot anywhere there is geographic relief. In completely flat terrain it is more challenging for landscape shooting in fog without a lot of color or subjects with strong graphic design like flowers and trees. Interior forest scenes are best revealed in stormy light even in flat landscapes.
In this moody image of Alaska’s northern Chugach Mountains, the low clouds clinging to mountain sides IS the main subject. In mountain country, low clouds form after prolonged precipitation events. I’ve seen this happen from Peru to Arctic Alaska. My trusty 70-200mm or 100-500mm lenses helps emphasize the patterns and textures of the clouds. One thing to watch out for is how mountain ridges contrast against white clouds. White on white really reduces important separation. Fortunately, I had good contrast with dark ridges against the low cloud cover. Some skillful post processing brought out the cloud texture and revealed the fall colors on the far lake shore.
Canon R5, Canon 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 at 156mm
ISO 400, 1/80th second @ f16
WHAT TO AVOID
PRO TIP: Dark backgrounds or dark colored and toned subjects can emphasize falling precipitation. Look for ways to reveal and emphasize bad weather elements such as precipitation and wind.
Dealing with bad weather is part of the adventure and this icy rain and sleet storm in the Peruvian Andes is no exception. I am always on the lookout for scenarios that best capture the mood and feeling of dealing with inclement weather. I carefully composed this shot so the hiker, Lauri, was surrounded by a uniform tone and waited until the precipitation was shown against her dark rain gear. I carry my camera at the ready in a Hyperlite Mountain Gear large Camera Pod on my chest. This allows easy and fast access to my camera. I religiously use my lens hood as that is the best protection against precipitation falling on the front element.
Canon R7, Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 lens at 50mm
ISO 800, 1/500th second @ f/7.1
Tundra fall colors above Knik Glacier in Alaska’s Chugach Mountains. One of the things to avoid on cloudy skies is “white on white”, that is, white ridge lines as seen on the left blending in with white featureless sky. While this is a stunning sight to see with nice fall colors, the type of clouds seen here just don’t work and dominate too much of the image. A better treatment is to eliminate most of the sky, wait for better cloud conditions or find other compositions.
Fall colors in Hatcher Pass in Alaska’s Talkeetna Mountains. This was made in an all day rain and it really saturated the warm fall colors. The sky and clouds had enough texture and darkness to include a little of it but anymore would have robbed visual interest from the rich fall colors of the mountainsides.
Canon R5, Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens at 37mm
ISO 400, 1/50th second @f16
Breakthrough Photography X4 polarizer to reduce glare on wet vegetation and maximize color saturation.
In the mountains, watch out for white-on-white snow covered ridges against white bland skies result in very poor separation. Water can be tricky as it takes on the color of what is above it. Large bodies of open water are often bad to shoot in overcast light because you get steely grey skies but small bodies of water near shorelines can reflect colors of trees and rocks. This works especially well with fall colors.
BEST TECHNIQUES
PRO TIP: Bad Light, Shoot Tight! Use a long lens.
One of the reasons I use pro bodies and lenses is because they are built to withstand a fair amount of weather abuse with no real consequences. I find rain covers to be difficult to really work with, especially if there is any wind. Here is what I do to protect my gear from wet weather:
1. Use your lens hood! This is the best protection against image ruining drops on your front element.
2. Use large sized micro fiber cloths (you can buy packs of them at Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc.) and drape them over your camera and frequently dry off water.
3. Store your camera in a waterproof bag with easy access when gear is not in use.
4. If you have lots of money and/or the power of persuasion you can get a dedicated assistant to continually hold an umbrella over you and your gear.
For wildlife shooting, eliminating a bad background means more attention is drawn to the subject. For landscapes, using long lenses helps to reduce and avoid the two main things that destroy images: 1) large areas of bald white, or featureless grey sky, and 2) large areas of steely bright bodies of water. As mentioned above, my best selling bear images were made in the rain in dull flat light.
PRO TIP: In low, flat light use long exposures for creative effect.
Sunrise at Swiftcurrent Lake, Many Glacier, Glacier National Park, Montana. This isn’t flat light but certainly bad weather. This warm sunrise light lasted 5 minutes before going completely lifeless and was accompanied by 30mph headwinds right into the camera. The lake was dark and ominous with waves. In flat and low light you can use creative long exposures for a more artistic look. A 3-second exposure allowed the warm colors of the clouds to paint across the dark lake surface with lots of chop. The long exposure also softened the look of the waves. With rain driving right into the lens, I did the best I could to dry off drops and shoot before more drops splattered on the surface of the polarizer.
Canon 5D Mark III
Canon 17-40mm f/4 at 21mm
ISO 100 3 seconds @ f/16 on tripod with
Breakthrough Photography X4 polarizer.
REASONS TO USE TELEPHOTO LENSES (70-200mm, 100-400mm etc.) IN BAD WEATHER AND/OR FLAT LIGHT
- They have longer hoods that are reasonably effective at keeping out rain.
- Telephoto compression helps emphasize falling precipitation especially against a dark background.
- Easier to reduce large areas of featureless sky above the horizon line. Compression helps emphasize low clouds clinging to peaks and canyon walls.
This image of a trumpeter swan stretching its wings and taking off was made in the rain on a typical Anchorage fall morning. Small bodies of water often reflect the colors along and or above the water. In bad weather and flat light you have to be more selective of your background.
Canon 5D Mark IV
Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens
ISO 1600, 1/500 second @ f/4.5
Dark toned landscapes really pop with high key and bright low clouds. I always love going out after prolonged periods of rain/snow, especially in arid areas such as Zion National Park, where this phenomenon doesn’t happen as often as it does in wet climates such as the Cascade Mountains. As usual, using telephoto compression helps with design and emphasis on vertical lines.
Canon R5, Canon 70-200mm f/4 lens at 186mm
ISO 200, 1/2 second @ f/11 on a tripod.
In any wet environment use a circular polarizer. Sometimes the effects are subtle but proper polarization on a small stream and waterfall can make a huge difference. Polarizers are not just for darkening blue skies but are even more useful for saturating colors and eliminating or reducing glare on wet or shiny surfaces.
Circular polarizers are not just for darkening blue skies! Anytime I am around water or shooting wet vegetation, I use a polarizer to add color saturation. Compare this unpolarized image of Gold Cord Lake in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska with fog to the next image, made seconds later. The difference is clear! The next image was made with a 1/4 turn of my trusty Breakthrough Photography X4 circular polarizer.
Canon R5, Canon 14-35mm f/4 lens at 16mm
ISO 100, 2 seconds @f/16 on a tripod
Turning the polarizer for maximum effect revealed the true blue-green colors of this beautiful alpine lake.
Canon R5, Canon 14-35mm f/4 lens at 16mm
ISO 100, 2 seconds @f/16 on a tripod
Main Takeaways for shooting in difficult and flat light
- Telephoto lenses work best
- Eliminate or minimize featureless skies and large grey bodies of water
- Look for dramatic low clouds that form below peaks and ridge tops
- Look for and be ready to capture brief breaks during storms that create dramatic light
- Use slow shutter speeds for creative effects
- Shoot bold colors in falling snow and fog-make high key backgrounds
- Focus on color, patterns, leading lines and other design elements
- Use pro gear that can withstand a little abuse and use your lens hood!
This is a very informative and super useful newsletter. Michael has been there, learned how to beat the problem conditions and make them work for successful photography. His experience comes from years out in the field under all kinds of conditions and what he has learned shows up in his work – BEAUTIFUL IMAGES. Thank you for sharing such useful info.
Thank you Terry for your great feedback. Much appreciated! I hope others also find it useful as well.