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Dreaming Winter Photography
The sight of early morning snow, the shimmering frost in the trees, your sister falling off in your snow filled front yard and your stunning snow angel, don’t you ever wish you could just capture that moment right away and place them in your computer ...
Tips On Buying Your First GPS Unit
Anyone that enjoys the great outdoors has probably heard of GPS devices. They can come in handy when you are hiking, boating, biking, or doing just about anything else in the great outdoors. Twenty years ago, you had to rely on a compass the position of ...
Why Go Gold Panning?
Gold panning is a great outdoor activity that can be fun for people of all ages and health. If you can walk slightly off the beaten path, you can pan for gold. Despite the metal detectors, sluice boxes, and other large equipment often associated with this ...
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Cloudy days are nature's softbox.
Cloudy days can present many opportunities for great photographs. In fact, once you discover how easy it is to get great results, you'll look forward to a cloudy day as much, if not more, than a sunny day.
The studio photographer's arsenal includes a number of tools to soften and redistribute light to the best advantage of the subject. Among these tools is the Softbox which provides soft, even lighting by using a diffuser in front of the light.
In outdoor photography, cloud cover diffuses the light of the sun much like a photographer's softbox, producing a soft even light that results in softer contrasts. While high contrast can be quite dramatic, the softer contrast allows for more detail in both the light and the dark areas of your photograph. The softer light is also more flattering for portraits or candid shots of people.
On your first few cloudy day adventures, consider taking your digital camera. In spite of the differences in the cameras, what you learn about how the lighting changes your compositions and setup will be equally useful with your film camera. And with the digital, you'll feel
free to experiment without the added cost of film on your mind.
Some difficult subjects which benefit from the diffused light include waterfalls in shadowy forested areas, sea life caught in a tide pool and wildlife hiding in the shadows, as well as close ups of flowers and people.
Diffused lighting is not as bright as direct light, indoors or out, and you will need to compensate with a slower shutter speed. Or widen the aperture and adjust the depth of field. You should count on needing your tripod for wide or long shots. The picture can be blurred by even slight camera movement with really slow shutter speeds, so use your remote if you have one.
About The Author
Anita Cross is a self-employed Internet Marketing consultant, professional photographer and amateur writer. Her photography may be purchased at http://www.callofthewildphoto.com, where you can also find more Digital Photography Tips (http://www.callofthewildphoto.com/articles/) from Anita and other professional photographers.
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