Photography in Cloudy Weather

BJPhotography · Mar 5, 2011

Dont I want my meter and the cameras meter to be close to each other? I notice when I try to get them close sometimes my picture looks like crap so I had quit using it as a reference because it was wrong.

Bitter Jeweler · Mar 5, 2011

Well there is only one meter, and one hash mark on the meter's scale + - - - 0 - - - -
the hash mark is where your current settings are in regards to the cameras "ideal" (zero) exposure. Which could be wrong, to a degree.
You can change any of the three things in your control to get your hash mark to zero.

You can change the films (sensors) sensitivity to light.
You can change your shutter speed, which may change whether you stop motion (fast shutter) or introduce motion blur (slow shutter). Slow lets in light for longer, fast lets in light for shorter periods of time.

You can change your aperture, which will change your depth of field (google it). Wide aperture (small f/#) will give you a focused area often measured in inces to a few feet, a small aperture (big f/#) will give a focused area from a few feet from your camera to infinity.

You need to make the creative choices as to what is acceptable to change for your given image. Which is partially why people can't just tell you what settings to use for a given subject.

Ron Evers · Mar 5, 2011

I am surprised after reading to this point nobody told you to set your white balance to cloudy as a start.

OrionsByte · Mar 5, 2011

Ron Evers said:
I am surprised after reading to this point nobody told you to set your white balance to cloudy as a start.

Which also makes me wonder, are you (OP) shooting in RAW or JPG? While you're still learning I think shooting in JPG is fine, but like Ron said, setting the white balance ahead of time will help a lot.

If you're shooting in RAW then the white balance setting doesn't really matter because you can just change it later.

dxqcanada · Mar 5, 2011

I did not go into that subject ... right now I really just want her to understand the relationship of Shutter Speed / Aperture and their effects on Exposure.

Information overload.

Bitter Jeweler · Mar 5, 2011

Ron Evers said:
I am surprised after reading to this point nobody told you to set your white balance to cloudy as a start.

Maybe because many people shoot in RAW, and auto WB, and make any changes in post.
And what dxq said...information overlord!

BJPhotography · Mar 5, 2011

I have it set to Cloudy. I knew that much. LOL. I went out and took a few samples. I noticed the lower the shutter speed, the background is not blurry. Also the ISO setting is lower. If I keep the ISO setting at 400 and bring up the shutter speed, the background blurs more. Im getting this. I just havent decided which way I like it for a beach setting. Do I want the water blurry or not behind the subject?

Bitter Jeweler · Mar 5, 2011

Shutter speed has little to do with background blur, only that introduced by hand held camera shake.

Aperture has everything to do wit background blur.

kundalini · Mar 5, 2011

I can't belive my ears when I read out loud that people are recommending to NOT get a Circular Polarizinf Filter. That's ludicrous. If you only ever have just one filter, it would be a CPL. Photoshop can't reproduce the effect. One should be in every photographers bag. Don't cheap out but the most expensive is not required either.... somewhere in the middle should do okay. Just make sure it is mutli-coated.

There is a difference between cloudy and overcast skies. Overcast does provide nicely diffused light for shooting, but looks ugly if it's part of the scence IMO. So you have to position yourself so that the subject is in the wonderful light, but the sky is missing. Cloudy on the other hand can provide some magnificent components to the image.

Just my 2¢.

dxqcanada · Mar 5, 2011

If you had the camera in Program ... and shifted the shutter speed to a lower (slower) speed, the the camera meter will automatically adjust the Aperture to a smaller (larger number) size.

When the Aperture gets smaller there is more Depth of Field (range of acceptable focus).

OrionsByte · Mar 5, 2011

Up to you, depending on the shot. That's where you get to be creative. Try it lots of ways and see what you like and don't like about what you come back with.

dxqcanada · Mar 5, 2011

The faster (higher) shutter speed will freeze movement.

OrionsByte · Mar 5, 2011

Bitter Jeweler said:
Shutter speed has little to do with background blur, only that introduced by hand held camera shake.

I assumed he was in shutter priority, so as he adjusted the shutter speed the aperture opened up. You're probably right though, it's probably camera shake.

kundalini said:
I can't belive my ears when I read out loud that people are recommending to NOT get a Circular Polarizinf Filter. That's ludicrous. If you only ever have just one filter, it would be a CPL. Photoshop can't reproduce the effect. One should be in every photographers bag. Don't cheap out but the most expensive is not required either.... somewhere in the middle should do okay. Just make sure it is mutli-coated.

I totally agree with you, but I still think he should see what it looks like without one so he knows why he's carrying it around instead of just always using it without understanding it. Just my opinion.

KmH · Mar 5, 2011

Visit my blog How Do I Use My Digital SLR? for some information on the basics of the exposure triad: shutter speed, aperture, ISO and some info about the in-camera light meter.