How to take expressive landscape photos in bad weather?
The traditional concept of landscape photography usually boils down to that you need to shoot natural scenes at sunset or dawn, but the rest of the time is not suitable for this situation. In the afternoon, the strong light makes the scenery less attractive. For landscape photographers, what is usually called "bad" weather is not always the case. Moreover, some scenes can only be shot in "bad" weather, which will be discussed later in this article.
The shape and texture at dusk
In the previous content, I talked about the amazing ability of weak light to create calm, lyrical and sometimes mysterious emotions in the picture. Of course, the warm colors that appeared in the sky shortly before sunrise played a great role in it. However, on cloudy and gloomy mornings, the light at dusk can create a good environment for some shooting.
a good choice may be to choose a graph with a textured foreground. For example, stones or rocks with interesting textures, cracks or crevice patterns or textures. It can also be a landscape element with special expressive force and interesting shape: trees, branches, stumps and driftwood. Such stories should be concise, and the framework should be structured so that the selected object becomes the main object, and all other elements of the framework will only play a role and will not conflict with the main "theme". In addition to the expressive prospect, the ocean scene can also prove to be very atmospheric, and the waves are blurred by long-term exposure to smog or water foam on sand or pebbles.
rivers and waterfalls
if we try to make up for the lack of light in the classic sunset or dawn by choosing the main elements of our own atmosphere in the framework, direct sunlight will become a serious obstacle. After all, the sunlight reflected from the water will produce dazzling glare, and the brightness in the frame will drop very high. On cloudy days, all these difficulties disappeared, and we got the ideal conditions for shooting water. In addition, in cloudy weather, it is always much darker than in "good" weather, because dense dark clouds block part of the world. This works again, because the relatively slow shutter speed (about 1/1/15 second) is used to move the slight blur of the water flow (depending on the speed of the flow and the degree of blur required). It is best to use a polarizing filter when shooting, which can further reduce the beam flux, display details underwater and eliminate glare on trees and stone leaves.
graphics and simplicity in fog
In the usual sense, dense fog usually refers to bad weather, usually rain or snow, which blocks the sun and does not put any colors at sunrise or sunset. However, such conditions will bring photographers interesting and mysterious pictures with a special atmosphere. In the forest, the fog perfectly separates the plan; There is a strong smell in the frame. The lines of branches and trunks are more expressive, which helps to find simple and clear graphics. In mountainous areas, fog (or low clouds) completely changes the seemingly familiar areas, making people unable to recognize them. Some objects that were previously merged with the background suddenly took shape.
Fog hides many details of the surrounding landscape and creates an almost perfect blank table to build a minimalist plot. It doesn't matter whether it rains or not when shooting.
Abstraction and detail
Another type of storyline is that the horizon and sky are usually not included in the frame, which highlights some interesting details in the surrounding landscape or searches for abstract photos.
In almost any landscape location, at first glance, we are surrounded by less obvious details, which are usually lost in the field of view (wide angle) box and do not attract the attention of the viewer. However, if you don't forget to pay attention to these elements, you can use them for simple and eloquent pictures. The contrasting coastline reflects the water in the sky. In addition to attractive aesthetic elements, such plots usually have symbolic meanings. Of course, these symbolic meanings only play a role in photography.
From a creative point of view, it is more interesting to choose a single detail to shoot an abstract scene, in which the main focus is not on specific elements of the landscape, but on the combination of lines, shapes, spots and textures. In such a frame, it is difficult for the viewer to understand the real size of the object, which is the magical basis of this image.
Conclusion
Landscape photography is very diverse. Without the help of expressing light, an atmosphere will usually be completely created in the frames, so the shooting efficiency (that is, the number of successful frames found) will not be very high. However, you can find plots suitable for shooting in almost any weather conditions, even in rain and snow. The most important thing is to adopt a creative shooting method in order to provide the shooting opportunity for this place at this specific moment.