Landscapes + bad weather = meh

Scam · 7 Sep 2006 at 20:31

I'm off on my travels this Sunday (woo!) and am going to be in NZ for the end of their winter. Therefore i'm expecting grey skies and rain, but of course beautiful landscapes. So i'm after some advice on how to make the best of things.

I might be lucky and get the odd blue sky here and there though, i guess.

Has anyone got any links of pics with bad weather for some inspiration? Or ideas of what settings to try etc.. to try to make the msot of it? Bit of an odd question i know

Sp00n · 7 Sep 2006 at 20:35

Bad weather can make for a moody picture, with the right landscape you could still pick up some great shots.

ranarama · 7 Sep 2006 at 20:38

Sp00n said:
Bad weather can make for a moody picture, with the right landscape you could still pick up some great shots.

As long as it's not just a flat grey sky then yes. They can make very dramatic B&W shots. Think about picking up an ND grad so the grey skies don't end up as washed out white.

Mohain · 7 Sep 2006 at 21:15

Yes, couldy days for the win. Look out for storms brewing or just finishing. Underexpose a bit to retain the sky detail. ND grads also help.

Scam · 7 Sep 2006 at 21:24

ranarama said:
As long as it's not just a flat grey sky then yes. They can make very dramatic B&W shots. Think about picking up an ND grad so the grey skies don't end up as washed out white.

Thats what i'm worried about -- flat grey skies

I think i know the answer to this question, but will my circular polarising filter help at all in cloudy/grey weather? I could buy an ND grad, but i'm already bending my budget on lots of memory cards and a spare battery!

Psilonaught · 8 Sep 2006 at 10:12

bad weather makes for way more interesting images - here are two of mine taken in very bad weather, makes everything look more dramatic. The golden rule is to make sure you dont over exposure the sky however as in bad weather the light tends to be tricky.

Irish_Tom · 8 Sep 2006 at 10:52

Psilo are they HDR?

Stunning shots!

Panzer

Psilonaught · 8 Sep 2006 at 10:56

yes they are HDR, but especially the first one done with very very mild settings and I then auto leveled and desaturated in PS to bring back the natural look.

Like I said, weather like this is tricky and multi-exposures are almost a necessity to avoid "sky burn"

Irish_Tom · 8 Sep 2006 at 11:06

I really couldn't make my mind up I thought it was either a very well exposed shot possibly with an ND filter or it was very subtle HDR

Love them both!

Panzer

Psilonaught · 8 Sep 2006 at 11:16

thanks

I just bought a x4 ND (ungraduated) and can't wait to give it a go!

yak.h'cir · 8 Sep 2006 at 14:33

Ungraduated? Won't that kinda ruin the effectiveness of an ND for darkening skies relative to the ground?

Ugley_Matt · 8 Sep 2006 at 15:49

You will have to go for the Mordor look rather than the Shire

Irish_Tom · 8 Sep 2006 at 15:59

Yak.
An ungraduated filter allows you to expose the whole shot for a much longer time in good lighting conditions.
It allows you to get 'silk-water' effects and the like without losing the detail in the surrounding landscape etc. The other benifit is you can use a screw-on filter without worrying about the angle the gradient is on. However, as you said a graduating filter is good for keeping the sky and the foreground exposed correctly when shooting landscapes.

Panzer

Mohain · 8 Sep 2006 at 16:30

You can sometimes get away with uniform grey skys if you shot in (or convert to) B&W.

Scam · 8 Sep 2006 at 17:18

Ugley_Matt said:
You will have to go for the Mordor look rather than the Shire

that made me laugh

Thanks guys, maybe i'll see if i can pick up a graduated ND, otherwise i'll just take care to either expose to the sky or just make sure not to blow it out

Psilonaught · 8 Sep 2006 at 17:29

yak.h'cir said:
Ungraduated? Won't that kinda ruin the effectiveness of an ND for darkening skies relative to the ground?

indeed - I will still process using multi-exposures but as Panzerbjorn says, I want to be able to get some more movement in the landscape images I take.

TBH I can't be bothered with Cokin and graduated ND's, I'd rather just multi-expose.

yak.h'cir · 8 Sep 2006 at 18:03

Ahh thats cool! I know about the uses of ungraduated filters but becuase of the context thought you were planning on using one to just darken the sky while exposing for the ground.

yak.h'cir · 8 Sep 2006 at 18:07

Psilonaught said:
TBH I can't be bothered with Cokin and graduated ND's, I'd rather just multi-expose.

I reckon you should give grads a try, once you use them you'll never turn back! They've helped me get some shots that I couldnt have otherwise, and for me at least its much faster to use a filter then doing the whole HDR thing.

e.g:

Irish_Tom · 9 Sep 2006 at 10:39

Could you not get a ND grad screw in filter that rotates like a standard CP filter. A Circular ND grad if you will. As long as there was a mark at the top to show where the dark bit starts it wouldnt matter that you were screwing it in...

*Panzer goes to the patent office*

p.s. Stunning shot Yak

Panzer

Psilonaught · 9 Sep 2006 at 13:10

B+W 77mm 502 Graduated ND Gray Filter F-PRO

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/B-W-77mm-502-...ryZ30066QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The mounts of graduated Filters can be rotated, so that the line of transition between the colored and the clear half of the filter can be adjusted in relation to the subject without appearing unnatural.