BetterPhotoJim

Overcast Shmovercast... Who Loves Overcast?

© Jim Miotke All rights reserved

We are programmed to frown at an overcast sky. We crave the sun - sometimes we even equate happiness with a clear day.

In photography, an overcast day is generally thought of as a good thing - it provides a softer, diffused light and evens out contrast. However, a drab, white sky can pose a problem when photographing landscapes. I was presented with this issue in northern Arizona, where I took this shot. While I was pleased the way the sky illuminated the red rock in the canyons, the white clouds were an uninteresting and distracting part of the composition.

There were a couple of options for solving this problem. Using a graduated neutral-density filter will darken or add color to your sky. But in this case, I chose the second option - eliminating the sky altogether. In some cases, this can make a landscape look incomplete, but I found that taking it out helped bring focus to the beautiful color and patterns in the rocks and water below.

Balancing White Balance

The Joy of Snow on the Nose © Jim Miotke All rights reserved

Achieving the proper color temperature in a photo is sometimes a tricky proposition. It can be especially interesting shooting in the snow - filling your composition with white can really expose a problem with white balance.

I was recently reminded of this tiger photo when we had a light dusting of snow here in the Seattle area. It took several shots to find this realistic representation the snow. The natural light at the scene was far too blue, so my first shot was on the cool side. Overcompensation led to subsequent shots being too warm, or yellow. It turned out that using the Shade white balance setting with a color temperature of 7500K balanced the natural blue cast light perfectly. Similarly, if the conditions had been far too warm, a white balance setting such as Tungsten at 3200K may have done the trick.

If there's still snow where you live, I recommend taking your camera for a walk. Bundle up and practice your white balance techniques by playing with these settings.

Have fun!

Jim