what do you do on cloudy/rainy days

I spent 22 years as a professional meteorologist in a variety of locations

including Saigon. I also spent my first 22 years growing up Niagara

Falls/Buffalo where there are two seasons, winter and the 4th of July. Not

really; since I have lived for the past 30 years in the Seattle area, I now know

that the climate of my youth is too damned hot and humid in the summer. Seattle

also has two seasons, the dark half of the year and the light half of the year.

The light half of the year, May-September is about the nicest place on earth,

with great weather and beautiful scenery all around. The dark half of the year

is is almost never harsh, amazing since Seattle is further north than any part

of Maine, but is dark and dreary for days on end. It is also damp but more

drizzle than heavy rainfall - snowfall is quite rare, especially by Buffalo

standards. At the peak of darkness, the sun is above the horizon for just a

little over 8 hours, but is apparently even shorter due to heavy clouds. My

question is this: what do you photograph when the days are dark and cloudy? I

hate to be inactive for half a year. My inactivity was also forced by

arthritis, but now I have a new titanium and teflon knee and am raring to go.

But what type of subject do you go after on dreary days. Sure we got a lot of

snow in Buffalo but it was often followed by clear sunny days, and when we had

freezing rain (glaze), it was spectacular when the sun shone.

photograph it all. i prefer clouds to full sun almost always. the diffused light is better, especially for portraits.

Shooting in the rain can be theraputic to us who absolutely must exercise every day

regardless of weather. Photographing weather is an art unto itself, and not many

photographers work in the rain.

 

You might find it fun to wrap up the Leica and just shoot! This one was done with a plastic

bag over the camera, rubber-band holding the bag around the outside of the lens filter.

Using a motor wind might be a real benefit. I used a Vit instead.

 

Ain't no great picture, but it was a good experience.<div></div>

All too familiar with the situation; I'm in central New York, near Syracuse. (BTW: You're wrong about upstate NY having two seasons. There are in fact four seasons here: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, Construction.)

 

It's grey, dreary, and drizzly here today, yet again. But I'm working on my to-do list just now, in order to free up some guilt-free time late this afternoon. Quite often the clouds break up a little just before sunset, and that generally makes for some great opportunities --- very strong back- and side-lighting as the setting sun peeks through here and there. Beats full sun at mid-day, by a lot.

Some consider travel. I live in North Texas which has 2 seasons, hot and humid. I have considered my photgraphy not to be grand landscapes, but objects of interest. On cloudy days just search for other things. I think we all have some level frustration of shooting.

it's the biggest softbox you can find. i wish we had more cloudy days here. wet foliage with a polarizer can be quite stunning.

is there such thing as a polarizer for a rangefinder?

Buy a new computer with Vista and spend your time trying to make your scanner, printer, etc. work properly. Maybe in a couple of months you will get an upgrade that will necessitate unlearning what you have already figured out and then learning how to operate under the fix. By that time it will be ski season and you can go to Snowqualmie and break a leg. By the time you get out of the cast MS will have issued another upgrade and you can start all over again. ((:~[

Use a slip on for a rangefinder, look and rotate until you see what you want and slip it on.

Here is the solution I fell upon: I shoot 100 ASA blk/white, and on sunny days rate at 25 to

50 ASA depending on shadows and I water down the developer and extend the development

into the range of stand development in the half hour range. Then the darker and wetter it

gets, the higher I rate the ASA and the stronger I make the developer and the shorter the

development time. The great thing about rainy days is I can take advantage of mid tones, and

I print them on warm paper. I noticed over the course of a year of street photography I used

1/100 to 1/200 and f 5.6 to f 11 almost exclusively no matter what the weather was like by

varying the development. But the rainy days were great for their mid tones mixed with

highlights from the water.

Wouldn't it be great if we could always have beautiful blue skies with big billowy cumulus clouds as a backdrop for our photos? Well, the real world just isn't like that. You've got to take whatever is dealt out and make the best of it. There is always something out there waiting to be photographed. You just have to look a bit harder through the fog and drizzle.<div></div>

Next, sit down at the computer with a nice cup of hot chocolate, dry out a bit and using PS add some blue sky and lens flare! Great huh!<div></div>

Stuart, now all you need to do is take the above JPG to the nearest Walgreens and have it printed 4x6. Voila!

I would photograph the clouds...

 

 

<a href=" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/148/412360885_5da448ba00_o.jpg" width="850" height="540" alt="" /></a>

<a href=" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/20/72786970_165bd7bac1_o.jpg" width="750" height="504" alt="Swanage bay. Dorset UK" /></a>

<a href=" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/350985682_2540cdfabd_o.jpg" width="950" height="546" alt="Perranporth" /></a>

Great shots, Trevor.

 

Nels,

 

That was going to be my "photo of the week" entry. Now I'll have to post something else. :)

As Trevor demonstrated, clouds can offer great photo opportunities. It hardly ever rains where I live, but when it does it can become quite violent.<div></div>

Overcast/rain== nice light.

I feel that overcast weather is the most even light for portraits - shadows are less harsh - very even light - I'm actually happy when it's a bit under the weather:)

Tibet

Bali

Peter, The Bali shot is awesome!

I go to Chinatown and take pictures.<div></div>

And<div></div>