Bad weather photo tips

While we are all comfortable shooting landscapes when the weather is favourable, we should also be aware of the excellent opportunities that exist when it’s more challenging.

It helps to develop an open-minded approach to the potential for taking great photographs, irrespective of the weather. Adopting the right mental attitude is important.

When you look out in the morning and see that it’s raining, don’t leave your DSLR at home, instead it should be a time to celebrate some great photo ops.

When you arrive at a location and discover that it is shrouded in thick mist, ponder your good fortune. While travelling to a location you had long planned to photograph, you notice the sky is beginning to fill-in, just think of the wonderful opportunities this changing weather presents.

It’s so easy to dismiss the ambient weather conditions as ‘ordinary’, but no such thing exists. If you are able to adopt a positive view of weather, your landscape photography will become more interesting and fulfilling.

It really is disappointing to hear fellow landscape photographers complain that the weather had not been kind to them. Weather determines the ‘mood’ of the landscape, and the more demanding the weather conditions, the more interesting our photographs become.

Which subjects for stormy skies?
Clearly any landscape will work, although some work better than others. If a cloud formation is especially dramatic, make it the main subject, with the foreground playing a secondary role; in these circumstances lower the horizon within the frame when shooting.

A landscape scene with a fairly uninterrupted horizon often works well. If you include a figure within the composition, ensure it looks small in relation to the sky.

If there is a strong wind, use it to enhance the scene; long hair or loose clothing billowing in the wind will all heighten the sense of drama.

01 Keep spray at bay
If photographing by the coast in stormy weather, take measures to ensure your camera is protected from sea spray, which can wreak untold damage; the back of the camera is at most risk. In this situation try using your body as a shield.

02 Grey skies or colourful clouds?
When photographing stormy weather, you have various options. If you shoot in the middle of the day, the clouds will appear grey, so in order to introduce cohesion, make sure the foreground has a similarly restricted colour palette.

An alternative is to take your photographs at dawn or dusk, when the sky appears extraordinarily colourful.

03 Guard against the elements
Be aware of how damaging dust can be. When photographing a storm, try to have the presence of mind to place a rain cover over the camera. Not only will a storm shower you with water, but your camera will be exposed to high amounts of dust, as well.

04 Balance bright skies
Use a graduated filter; these allow you to balance the exposure of the foreground with a potentially much lighter sky. The main manufacturers of these filters are Cokin or Lee. If the sun is at 90 degrees, you might experience an unevenness of exposure across the sky; if so then angle the graduated filter horizontally.

05 Match the landscape
One of the most important considerations, when photographing the weather in a landscape, is to match the sky with a suitable foreground.