What to do if it is a Cloudy Day?

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Sunlight VS No Sunlight

What to do? 

Super cloudy grey skies and no shadows on the ground?

I wanted to take a second to give you the good and the bad.  Really, more bad in my opinion, even though most photographers LOVE cloudy weather. The reason most photographers love cloudy weather is because it is easier shooting, you can shoot anywhere and get a nice even exposed image. However, there is not much drama in the light, which means a boring portrait…to me. UNLESS we use FLASH Photography!

That portrait below was taken on a some what sunny day as a big cloud passed over.

Can see the dramatic change in the lighting?

The No Light image still looks good, just flat and dull VS. the image with nice beautiful rim light around my subject’s body and hair.

Another issue with really cloudy weather is you most likely will have dark circles under your eyes. To help you imagine how the light will fall on your face, imagine you are standing under a shower head directly above the top of your head.  The water will fall down hitting the top of your head, some of your forehead, your nose, shoulders, and on down.  This is exactly what happens to the diffused cloud/solid grey skies light. When the light hits your forehead, it does not fall into your eye sockets, which causes a shadow under your eyes. 

Yes, I can fix this in post, but it is never quite the same.  Another unfortunate affect of a dark sky is the color of the image is also a bit lack luster.

Solutions.

  • Use flash photography-for any session other than family session

  • Deal with the gloomy day

  • Reschedule-especially for family session

So, options…we go for it clouds and all or we can reschedule.  Totally up to you, I will do whatever works best for you.  I just want to make sure you know that the pictures will not be like what you see on the website and blog, those are all mostly taken on sunny days.   I def do not mind one bit waiting for the right conditions, I personally like shooting in the light! 🙂

A little side note, if we do use flash photography…I do not suggest this for family portrait sessions unless all the children are older and can handle a slower process.

Jamie Solorio