Understanding light is an important part of photography, however getting to grips with the weather is equally required. Watching the forecast and planning your days before approaching the subject can seriously make differences in your artwork.
A critical factor to capture the details in the silk of the water and the surrounding structure whether it be rock or foliage. Take two days both overcast ideal for making images with flowing water, such as rivers and waterfalls.
Below are two examples taken on two separate visits to the Wörschach canyon, remember both days are overcast, so why are there such differences in each photograph?
The two pieces are converted to Black & White to understand the effect of weather conditions on tone (the shade of grays through the picture) . Notice the tonality of the wooden walkway, then notice the sheen off the leaves to the left, between the portrait and landscape versions.
Have you compared the leaves and wooden walkway in this piece below to the one above ? Notice the difference, is it due to the B&W conversion ? partially but this is not the reason. Follow on as I show the color versions of the gorge images.
The color images unravels the mystery
See how dark the wooden structure is ? the clue is in the bottom right hand corner.
The difference is rain and drizzle, bringing life to the green leaves and a natural contrast to the wooden bridge. Like cameras and lens, the weather is also a tool to make images. Each meteorology feature can have a dramatic effect on the final artwork.
So why did I visit this gorge on a day without rain ? mmh ?
To capture the fog that sat just above the tree line, see the following photograph.
I hope this short article, demonstrates the way the weather plays its part in landscape photography. I offer Landscape workshops in the beautiful Austrian Alps within an hour from Salzburg Airport find out more at: http://www.glyons.at/en/workshops
These images are part of the Austrian Gorge portfolio, prints are available from http://www.glyons.at
Gallery of images
