BAD WEATHER PHOTOGRAPHY

Have you ever had one of those days when you looked out your window and wished that the weather was better so you could get out and take some fantastic photographs? Do rainy, windy, stormy days stifle your photographic ambitions? Well listen up there are no specific weather condition to shoot totally awesome photographs. I'll give you some reasons why bad weather is not such a bad thing for photographers.

Let’s look these five reasons to appreciate bad weather, and what they can offer you for photographs that get that second look.

1. Clouds
2. Winds
3. Rain
4. Snow
5. Fog   

CLOUDY DAYS

Clouds can be a great backdrop for photographing old buildings, new skyscrapers, and trees. While you're out in the storm, also think about shooting just the clouds by themselves, to create a “cloud bank” of images to use as drop-ins for compositing with other images. Clear blue skies are pretty boring in most photos. With your catalog of cloud shots you’ll never have a bland sky photo again. Low hanging clouds can add a really mysterious quality to your images. Think black and white photography when considering ways to take advantage of clouds. You can use post-processing techniques to accentuate the various layers of the cloud formations to add even more drama to your images.

WINDY DAYS

Windy days provide you with all you need to make excellent motion studies for long exposures – tall grasses flowing like waves, tress swaying wildly, leaves trembling and dancing full of motion. Waves on lakes become whitecaps, perfect for those milky long exposure waterscapes.

Use a neutral density filter to slow your shutter so that it captures the motion created by the breeze. Use a tripod for your wind shots to make sure that whatever is not moving in your image stays nice and sharp. The contrast of solid and fluid is a powerful creative technique.

RAINY DAYS

Water on Leaf by Nicholas Small copyright

Rain is the go to element for creating truly artistic photos, especially when it comes to creating high definition black and white photos of landscapes, buildings and architecture

When it’s wet outside, colors become deeper, richer and more saturated. This provides you with a way to look at the great outdoors in a “different light.”  Observe how flat and lifeless colors appear on an overcast day. But add some rain and the colors really pop! Rain photography gives you hundreds of subjects for creative artistic photos using reflections and ripples in puddles, lakes and other water bodies. A wet rainy day gives you macro photography opportunities, by providing you with drops, ripples, and rivulets, perfect in the flat, even light of a rainy day. Use rain streaks on windows as art effects to make high impact abstract images.

SNOW PHOTOGRAPHY

Gently falling snowflakes in photography can add an additional element of emotion to add more impact to your images – who hasn't felt a little shudder in the blustery cold? It can be used to create a sense of realism in a photo, especially in street photography.

Heavy falling snow adds an instant texture to your images. Colors appear softer, and less vibrant as they compete with the white of the flakes. I find it adds an instant painterly effect to most images – especially those with lots of natural colors. 

FOG PHOTOGRAPHY

Fog can be used to create moody and high impact scenic shots, great for storytelling, and it can be used as a “backdrop” to hide distracting backgrounds to isolate your subject.  It also add a sense of mystery to your photos. If you ever wanted to create an awesome photo try taking one of a large home or mansion during a light foggy day. the effects you get will take you hours to create on Photoshop or any other image editing software.

Just remember this its not going to always be sunny everyday. As a photographer be prepared to always shoot something whether its hot and sunny outside to the snow as its falling or may be after the snow falls and everything in between. Carry your camera at all times and protective gear for yourself and your equipment. You never know when inspiration may strike.

Who knows maybe you may be able to capture the next big tree that fell in your neighborhood during the last major storm. It might event be used in the local or major news. so let go out there and capture some amazing photos be it rain or shine.