How to take portrait photos on cloudy days?

When shooting portraits with natural light, the most important thing is to choose the right light direction and let the light fall on the model's face beautifully. Since natural light comes from the sun, photographers don't have much chance to change the position of the light source. We can't rearrange the sun, but we can choose the time of day (in the morning and evening, the sun is closer to the horizon, thus providing more comfortable light to fall from the side).

If the shooting is arranged at noon, the only way to control the light direction is to change the position of the model relative to the light source.

The main advice when shooting portraits in the street is to avoid top lighting when the sun is strictly above the model's head, and the light falls from top to bottom. In this case, the eyes are shadows, and the eyes themselves lose their luster because of insufficient light. Therefore, this portrait looks lifeless and boring.

The second problem is the quality of light. Depending on the weather, the light can be intense (sunny) or soft and scattered (cloudy). On the one hand, strong light makes it difficult to work when shooting portraits, because if you choose the wrong light direction, it will produce very deep sharp shadows and look ugly, especially when shooting portraits of girls or children.

The best angle for strong light shooting is to let the model turn her face to the light and lift her chin, so that the light will fill her face evenly. This kind of light is usually used in fashion photography (it can be imitated by portrait boards in the studio).

Soft light falls on the face more evenly, creating a soft transition between light and shadow, so soft light is a win-win situation.

On the other hand, in cloudy weather, there is a lack of color and contrast, and the colors in the photos look very gloomy, unlike the bright and cheerful photos on sunny days. However, you can add contrast and saturation to your photos during processing.

But even if it is cloudy, the direction of light will not be the most favorable, because it falls from above. Sunlight passes through the clouds and falls from top to bottom. As a result, an unpleasant shadow appeared under the model's eyes. They are quite soft, but the photos will fade because the model lacks light in his eyes.

So when taking portraits in the street, please try to find a place where the light does not fall from above, but falls at a more horizontal angle. The simplest example is an arch or tunnel. The hole (entrance) in the arch mimics a huge window or a soft box, through which light passes. In addition, if the model is located in the arch, the overlapping part will completely block the dome light. In this way, the light direction can be easily changed by interrupting the model to the required shooting point.

You can shoot in the shade of a small shop or cafe, in an open arbor park, or even under a big branch.