The secret of taking good pictures in bad light

Photography is actually to capture light and shadow, so sufficient light is very important for photography. Generally, professional photographers work in natural light, and there is no problem; For novices, the most beautiful light only lasts for a few hours every day, while the sun is covered by clouds at other times. It is difficult to take good scenery or subject photos in bad light, and it is also difficult to take high-quality photos. Here’s how to take good photos in bad light!

1. Find different colors

The advantage of sunset and sunrise is that they can depict the most beautiful lines and features of the landscape with balanced colors. However, when the weather is not good, natural light has no ability to provide sufficient and balanced colors for photos that need rich colors. To create a colorful image, we must find a vivid theme. On overcast days, the light will become soft. At this time, you can look for soft colors C that are not easy to see in the sunset, such as light purple and blue. These colors may not be obvious in the light of sunset or sunrise, but the gray sky can make them stand out. After a storm, it is also possible to take beautiful images with saturated colors. Even under the gray and dead sky, the green of the tropical rain forest will always stand out. As a landscape photographer, remember to bring your polarizing filter!

2. Unique details

Although it is said that the best shooting time is in a sunny or well-lit environment, sometimes the photos that pay attention to details also appear to be of high quality in overcast days. To some extent, this is because overcast days are too monotonous. Few photos can increase readers’ interest through the dull sky. But the clouds in cloudy days also have unique texture. The most important thing is to ask yourself whether they can help your composition. If the sky is not interesting, it will not increase the interest of the photo. It is obvious from the above photos that the sky is gray, but the exposure cloth and a little light on the ground highlight its beauty in the silence, so you can find unique details when shooting the landscape on a cloudy day, and then use the soft light of a cloudy day to highlight the main body.

3. Close shot

Macro photographyIt is an effective way to highlight the details of the subject in overcast days. The overcast days provide light shadows, which can let us see the true color and hue of a close object. Some macro photographers like to use flash, but clouds can also make photos have wonderful light. The color of the close shot is more natural and saturated than that of the distant scene, because there is hardly too much fog between the lens and the subject, so the macro world is full of color. Usually, you can also take pictures of water droplets on plants in case of heavy rain. The geometric patterns of water droplets can be beautiful, and they are ideal shooting objects under cloudy conditions.

4. Long exposure

In overcast days, photos may lose their original unique sense, but there is a quick and convenient way to solve it: use a neutral density filter. Because the neutral density filter is a glass darkening plate, we can also use an ultra-slow shutter speed in the daytime. Of course, such filters will not help every scene; For many people, it has little impact. However, long exposure can provide an image with a completely different style.

Long exposure will also highlight the color that is difficult to see with the naked eye. If you take the camera for a long exposure before dawn, even if the sky is dark, you may find unexpected surprises. The above photos were taken under long exposure. Is it not so boring?

5. Use black and white mode

Since the rise of color photography, few modern people will pursue black and white photography again, probably because they think black and white is too boring. But in fact, the editor often finds it more effective than color photography. With the cloudy sky, high-contrast monochrome photos can still convey the beauty of drama, which cannot be presented under the gloomy color. To some extent, black and white photography itself is a surreal style.

People often like landscape photos. They want to express a more beautiful world in the photos. For example, taking scenery in the sunset can show the most beautiful and moving scenery. Monochromatic photography does not have the same vividness, but the contrast of black and white photographs is high. Black and white can also highlight the beauty of the subject.

6. Make good use of the light at noon

Although photographers agree to shoot in good weather, sometimes too strong light will make the image have poor effect. For example, the glare of the sun at noon will make the subject produce extra shadows, sometimes really annoying. On the one hand, it is difficult to avoid harsh shadows and bright highlights, which may make your picture as a mess of contrast. But Xiaobian thinks that we cannot avoid the fierce light forever. You just need to use the advantage of strong sunlight to create a unique image. When shooting some object details or buildings, the shadows generated by strong light have the opportunity to bring features to the subject and enrich the composition.