How Clouds Can Affect Your Landscape Photography

Landscape Photography  •  Photography Tips

Landscape photography is not only about having the best looking landscapes in your frame. It is also greatly influenced by the sky conditions, or let’s say the cloud conditions. Clouds not only affect lighting, but they also have a great impact on the mood of the photograph. So, whenever you’re composing your photos, it is very important that you study how you can make use of the clouds to create an impactful image. In today’s video, landscape photographer Henry Turner talks about how he uses the clouds to create some outstanding images:

A sky with a clear blue sky looks good only on postcards. When it comes to creative landscape photography, such images feel bland and lifeless. When there’s drama going on up there, it truly escalates the beauty of the entire image.

Clouds  can come around in various forms and influence the mood of the image accordingly. Moreover, sometimes, when the sky is not completely covered with the clouds, light beams peep in and create additional drama on the ground. In the video, you can see an excellent example of this event. The strips of light that Turner was able to capture add an additional dimension to the image.

Besides light and shadows, clouds also play and important role in amplifying the colors in the sky. Specially during sunset and sunrise, when the sky gets blasted with colors, the clouds do an excellent job of exaggerating those colors. This way, they help in taking the image to an entirely different level.

So, the next time you’re planning an outing for landscape photography, make sure to keep an eye out for the clouds. Like in the video, the clouds could be the deciding factor between a good image and an excellent one.