Saturday, June 23, 2007

Photo Tips part I - Weather


Back in the day when I was taking pictures with a simple P&S digital camera I much prefered cloudless, blue skys whenever I was going to take pictures at an airshow. The clouds would always cause focus and exposure problems rendering most pictures useless. Now that I have an SLR camera that is more sophisticated my opinion on the "perfect airshow weather" has changed.
There are many pros and cons for both clear and cloudy conditions:

Cloudy/partially cloudy

  • Much more insteresting background
  • Adds dimension and scale to the image
  • Shows more of the true nature of flight
  • When presented with backlighting the clouds can help diffuse the light and provide softer shadows
  • Evening lighting tends to really bring out the gold/red in the sunlight
  • Vapor for those hard-turning jets

This picture would be very boring if it were taken on a cloudless day.

Clear

  • With the sun to your back it can really make your subject pop
  • Evening lighting can create spectacular effects
  • Helps to isolate your subject as well
  • Fewer focus/metering issues

This picture shows how the clear sky isolates the subject and really makes it pop.

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