Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Photography and portraiture - How to take pictures on cloudy days?

How to take pictures on cloudy days?

Can you take good photos on cloudy days?

There is often insufficient light on cloudy days, and when the light is insufficient, in addition to using high sensitivity to obtain a more stable shutter speed, using a large aperture lens is also a way to obtain a faster shutter speed.

Next, let's take a look at the summary of cloudy shooting skills.

1, outdoor portrait photography on cloudy days:

As for what kind of light should be used when shooting portraits outdoors, many people often choose bright sunlight to directly illuminate the front light of the subject from behind. But many times this direct light will make the subject have to squint. If the sun is low, the light on the squinting face is flat. If the sun is high, there will be shadows under the eyes and nose. No matter from which angle, it is not satisfactory.

At this time, don't let the subject be in direct sunlight, that is, put the subject in mild diffuse light. And this trouble is easier to solve on cloudy days. As we all know, many experts prefer cloudy days to sunny days when shooting outdoor portraits. Therefore, cloudy days may be more suitable for taking portraits than sunny days with strong sunshine. But there are also many noticeable problems in taking portraits on cloudy days.

White balance and exposure are very important when shooting cloudy portraits. Pay attention to whether the shutter speed of the camera is fast enough.

As mentioned above, cloudy days can achieve softer light reflection and make the subject's light reception more ideal, but sometimes the lack of light on cloudy days is also a headache, and the requirements for cameras are higher at this time. First of all, your camera needs to use higher sensitivity to obtain a more stable shutter speed in the case of insufficient light, but high sensitivity will have a greater impact on the image quality, especially in consumer digital cameras. At this time, you will use a digital SLR camera. After all, compared with consumer digital cameras, high sensitivity has a better impact on the image quality of digital SLR cameras.

In addition, it is the lens configuration. On cloudy days, the light is often insufficient. When the light is insufficient, besides using high sensitivity to obtain a more stable shutter speed, using a large aperture lens is also a way to obtain a faster shutter speed. However, for digital SLR, large aperture lens is generally more expensive. Tripod is also a common tool when the light is insufficient on cloudy days. When the light is slightly dim and the shutter is slow, the success rate of shooting with a tripod is much higher than that without a tripod.

2, cloudy outdoor landscape photography:

Cloudy weather is gray, and correct exposure can get ideal pictures. )

The light on cloudy days is softer than the direct light on sunny days, so it is more suitable for expressing some serene and quiet landscape themes. Some scenes showing smoke in cooking in mountain villages and rural fields are actually taken on cloudy days, which are very atmospheric and emotional. It is also easy to encounter insufficient light when shooting scenery on cloudy days. At this time, the use of tripod is even more important.