Landscape Photographer Shares Tips for Handling Clear Skies

Landscape Photography  •  Photography Tips

A clear sky is something that looks good only in postcards. If you’re seriously into landscape photography, you’re probably looking for exciting elements, such as clouds. But what do you do when you’re stuck with a clear, cloudless sky? Landscape photographer Mads Peter Iversen shares some tips on how you can avoid boring images in today’s video:

If you need to include some sky, one simple trick is to include only a small section of it. But a more interesting approach is to counterbalance the boring sky with a more interesting subject. By having an interesting foreground subject, you can keep engaging viewers and turn the sky into a simple backdrop.

If you take the latter approach, try using a longer lens—they do a great job of filling frame with the a foreground subject.

As Iversen beautifully demonstrates in the video, tackling a boring sky is much easier during the golden and the blue hours. You can play with magical colors and even include the sun and moon into your frame. In the video, Iversen shares some great examples of how he does it.

“On a clear sky day, minimal photos can be a better choice.”

Further, Iversen also shares how you can make use of the clear sky to take images with a minimalist look. The clear sky can work as negative space—a place for the imagination to run wild. Toward the end of the video, you’ll see how he uses a clear blue sky as a complementary background. That’s a perfect example of how you can use an otherwise boring sky to your benefit.

If you’ve always found clear skies uninteresting, we encourage you to watch this video. You’ll definitely get some new insights on capturing some fantastic images on a clear day.