Just not long back from leading a one:one photo workshop with a great client and friend in that beautiful part of Wales known as Gower (NEVER The Gower, as I once found out!). The weather was favourable and the subjects he wished to photograph were there in abundance.
We were, however, particularly blessed with interesting skies and clouds – especially clouds. Clouds are those funny things that can elevate a photograph from being ‘nice’ to being something rather special. Why? Well, in my view, a rather special or unusual cloud pattern or formation, apart from an additional eye catching interest, adds something unique that is very unlikely to ever be caught on camera again.
So, my suggestion is that we all look at clouds from both sides now. They can be elevated from ‘just clouds’ to the reason for the photo – adding the wow factor. By this I mean that I have photographed Rhossili Beach many times in the past but NEVER with clouds the like of which we saw on the workshop. All of a sudden I have a photo of a well shot location but with an additional something that really makes it stand out from my other – or possibly any other – shots of that area.
You may find that a Neutral Density Graduated filter (try both a 2 and a 3 stop filter to see which works best for you) will accentuate the cloud feature that caught your eye, as the sky is often that bit brighter than the land. You can also, of course, use the gradation tool to bring the light on the sky down in post processing software.
Either way, ignore interesting and special clouds at your peril.
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