How do I get sharp shots on overcast days?

[vicky leon]

I never feel my images as sharp/crisp enough when shooting on overcast days. Are

there any tips people can give me? I use a grey-card to measure white balance

and exposure and use a Nikon D200.

 

E.g. Do I need to shoot in the direction I would if the sun was out (with the

sun behind me)? Should I overexpose a little?

 

Vicky :)

[peterlyons]

i suspect the lack of sharpness you're describing is actually more a lack of contrast due to the

lack of strong shadows and highlights, particularly defining the edges of your subject. if

that's the case, you might try using some fill flash to help your model stand out more from

the background. Depending on how elaborate you care to get, you could also work with

multiple strobes, setting up additional lighting above and behind (a hair light) and/or to

either side, to create a strong highlight on that side of the face. Done right, it can give your

subject a greater appearance of depth.

[eric_boutilier_brown1]

Hmmm...I find this a most interesting question, as an overcast day is (in my opinion) the perfect lighting for portrait photography. In fact, I would (if one had a choice in these things) never photograph on any day BUT an overcast one, almost regardless of the subject.

 

But setting that asside, how do you get sharp images with delicate light? Sharp lenses, accurate focus, selective depth of field. If your subject is in focus, and the background out of focus, than the image will have life, and your subjects will look sharp. If you have a fast lens (f/1.8) you can get wonderful differential focus, and working with that to show both in and out of focus in the same image is definately the way to emphasize sharpness.

 

Fashion photography takes places in LA, Miami and Milan...why? Warm all year round, lots of sunshine...and what do they do, use diffusers all around the models to soften the light - 3/4 of the Sports Illustraded Swimsuit Issue photos are made with soft light, because it is the most flattering light to work with!

 

Take a look a classic fashion photos - they frequently are with soft light (be it from overcast light, or reflectors...to show but two classic examples (both famous images):

 

Richard Avedon, 1955 - overcast - http://www.garfnet.org.uk/new_mill/spring98/jpegs/avedon.jpg

 

Peter Lindbergh, 1989 - overcast

http://www.garfnet.org.uk/new_mill/spring98/jpegs/lindberg.jpg

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

the Avedon photograph is wonderful-hardly a surprise considering his talent. I agree with the comments regarding how an overcast day may actually be the best day on which to shoot-you get much more even lighting and no shadows; the problem is more likely due to lack of contrast rather than lack of sharpness as has already been stated. cb

[Jochen_S]

Are you sure you can exclude the dumber mistakes? - Are you maybe below your handholding skills? - What's about your lenses? - I have several which perform significantly better if stopped down. - If your camera has a backfocusing issue it might reveal that in the missing light.

[mark_kolanowski]

Vicki, With soft diffused lighting the subject / background contrast is reduced and what light their is lacks direction. On camera fill flash cleans up the color and puts pinpoint catchlights in the eyes but does nothing to shape your subjects faces. Reflectors ( silver or gold ) can work if you can get them close enough to your subject and find some open sky to bounce in. A soloution that I have found to be effective is a technique called flash key lighting. Place a portable strobe on a stand. Set the output to be about 1 stop over the ambient reading. Aim it at your subject at an angle of 30-45 degrees. Meter and test . Shoot away. The light will clean up the color and now has direction to give shape and definition (contrast) to your subjects faces. Catch lights are now in the 10-2 o'clock position. With your D200 and an SB 600/800 and using commander mode features this should be fairly simple. If you get comfortable with this you may consider adding another light for a kicker/edge or hair light. Good luck, Mark

[w.smith]

Hi Vicky,

 

on an overcast day the sky acts as a ginormous diffusor. The light comes from ALL

directions, not just one. Consequently you get faaaar less shadow - even none at all - than

on directly sunlit days. You seem to equate soft light with stuff being out of focus.

Apparently you need to see (relatively) sharp shadows to experience it as 'in-focus'. But

they are not the same thing!

 

It may be sensible to have your eyesight checked at an optician!

[jim_doty]

Vicky,

 

Like other posters, I think your problem may have more to do with the flatness of the light than any inherent lack of sharpness with your lens and camera. I am assuming you use a tripod and cable release and you use the optimum apertures on your lens while still getting the depth of field that you want.

 

A few more "sharpness" tips are here:

 

http://jimdoty.com/Tips/Maximum_Sharpness/maximum_sharpness.html

 

I don't usually shoot on heavily overcast days (no shadows) unless there is something dramatic going on with the subject or the light (like dramatic cloud formations).

 

I love slightly overcast days with soft shadows for doing portraits of people and flowers.

 

I usually prefer to do landscapes when there is some directionality to the light (overcast or not) with distinct shadows. I prefer side light or back light. Having the sun directly behind me is my least favorite light. There are some days due to the quality of the light that a landscape can be quite magical without any directionality to the light at all.

 

If you look through several good photo books, or head for the mall and look at some really good calendars, ask yourself which scenes taken in overcast light appeal to you the most and why.

 

You can boost the contrast of an overcast scene after the fact in Photoshop with Levels and other tools.

 

Jim

[stephen hazelton]

Could it be as simple as using faster shutter speed, smaller aperture, or higher ISO?

 

These are pretty basic to camera operation, but then again your post doesn't really rule them out, either. If you're using automatic settings, and either handholding the camera or shooting moving subjects, it could be as simple as increasing ISO or switching to faster shutter/larger aperture. Also, most lenses are less sharp when shot wide open, so check if that's the case.

 

You might try shooting something like a newspaper under different lighting conditions to see if it's really a sharpness issue or just the appearance based on contrast, etc.

[steve_hovland]

A little bit of hard flash, even at 2-3 stops down from the ambient, will add some snap that you can't get in Photoshop.

[twmeyer]

On overcast days, you can increase contrast by adding some shadow. Place your subjects in a doorway or under the eaves of a building, in the shade of a tree or use a black card to block that diffused light off one side of your subject... t