There is no such thing as ‘Bad Weather’ when it comes to landscape photography. You can use every type of weather to your advantage to help create atmosphere, drama and tension in your photos.
This blog won’t be looking at severe weather and thunderstorms, as these subjects will be covered in a separate blog all together.
Most of the time, Landscape photographers want fiery red skies, and when there isn’t the potential for them, we tend to throw a hissy fit and decide that it’s not worth going out to shoot. I am certainly guilty of this myself, and more often then not, will check the weather several times a day to see what happening and if there is potential for a ‘Good’ sunset. Over the year though, I have learnt that you can work with pretty much any conditions, you just need to get more creative and learn to deal with the conditions.
Adverse weather can certainly make it more challenging to shoot, there’s no denying that, but it is can also make it more fun at times, and certainly more rewarding when you get a killer shot! Gusts of wind, rain showers, thick fog, dark clouds and snow can all make your photos much more interesting.
Examples of when clear skies can work:
Examples of when rain can give you great light:
Examples of when dark and moody clouds can work:
Examples of when thick fog can work:
