Predicting weather

Devrij

Devrij

Devrij

Soldato
Joined
23 Jul 2009
Posts
14,121
Location
Bath
I woke up this morning to the sound of my windows being rattled by the wind and thought to myself "sounds like a horrible day outside".

I stepped out to go to work and was met by the most incredible sunrise sky I've ever seen with these electric blue streaks scoring a hot orange canvas. With no time to grab my SLR I took some sub-par snaps with my phone and rushed off to the train.

How do I predict those sorts of conditions? The weather sites tell you rain or shine, hot or cold, but where do I go to find out what conditions are going to provide that balance of interesting cloud with enough space to let light through etc.

Where can I get a crash course on meteorology for togs?
 
Last edited:
I hadn't considered using the rhyme backwards like that! I don't want to get up really early on the weekend because of a predicted storm and find myself outside in, well, a storm. Good points though. From the reading I've done, it seems alto-cirrus and alto-cumulus clouds are what I want, but I don't know what atmospheric conditions produce them.

I'm guessing it's just hit and miss a bit, but I'd like to know roughly whether it's worth setting the alarm for a saturday morning with some idea of whether it'll be a decent shoot.
 
I may be pointing out the obvious here, but I'd look at what the weather forecasting agencies say.

While they don't always get things right in our country, especially long-term, in the short-term however, they are usually about there. If they are forecasting overcast, I'd take it as so.
 
Nexus said:
I may be pointing out the obvious here, but I'd look at what the weather forecasting agencies say.

While they don't always get things right in our country, especially long-term, in the short-term however, they are usually about there. If they are forecasting overcast, I'd take it as so.
Click to expand...

Sadly there is more to it than that for a decent sunrise/sunset and our dumbed down weather services give us less and less information beyond temperature and rainfall by the day.

Unfortunately it is a bit hit and miss and if you want that perfect shot in a great location there are going to be a few freezing cold mornings/evenings of time wasted waiting.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Sadly there is more to it than that for a decent sunrise/sunset and our dumbed down weather services give us less and less information beyond temperature and rainfall by the day.

Unfortunately it is a bit hit and miss and if you want that perfect shot in a great location there are going to be a few freezing cold mornings/evenings of time wasted waiting.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the problem I face. I see the weather, it says "clear". I think "boring sky". It says "cloudy" I think "dark sky", but in practice those clouds might create some amazing sunrise shots. I wish I could order good skies for the days I needed them. "Hello, I'd like to book some towering thunderheads for this evening, and maybe some wispy cirrus for the weekend please."
 
As others have said - check the weather reports for a start.

Secondly, for Sunrises and Sunsets, you might want to have a calculator. There are some Apps for various phones - there are some freely available ones too, such as

Sunrise Calculator (handy because you can pop a pin in the map, it works out the times and also allows you to print of a PDF calendar for the year/)

Then there is

Photographers Ephemeris which again calculates Sunrise/Sunset - but this thing is on steroids. It also calculates the direction of Sunrise/Sunset and a host of other things too. Available on Android and Iphone and as a Desktop PC application.

Met Office website is also good, since it gives detailed forcasts for weather and really good forcasts for the coastal and mountain areas.

There are probably loads of other sites out there, which hopefully people will post in this thread - a good rule of thumb though is always have a camera with you :)

Also don't be disappointed with the weather. A while back most of Cheshire and North East Wales was bitterly cold with a thick fog. I almost decided to roll over and stay in bed. However I got up and went for a short drive up the road... this is the result. I was standing there in brilliant sunshine whilst everyone below me was wrapped up warm and had their foglights on!


Castle in the mist by Andy2580, on Flickr
 
I've sat on the top of that wall drinking beer when I was a teenager :D

Very nice photo too :)

In the last few weeks, I've seen some fantastic photo opportunities on my walk to work in areas I'd never have thought of. One day it was as if it was snowing with all the leaves falling, seemingly at once and a couple of times there was a slight haze with light reflecting off the leaves on the ground with everything being super contrasty. It would have made a fantastic photo. Sadly I don't take my camera to work :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom