It may be an attitude thing. I am told Paris has the same abundance of gray days as Cleveland, OH, but they refer to it as “silvery.” We call it pollution. When I commented on my hair turning gray, my barber said, “it is going platinum.” Celebrate the beauty, the lack of contrast and hope to see fog.
I really like the combination of overcast lighting, slide film, and an uncoated lens. There's something about the way colours are rendered under those circumstances that just does it for me. (The attachment is on Provia 100F, shot with a wartime Nettar folder.)
-NT
Nathan Tenny
San Diego, CA, USA
Although the moon is smaller than the earth, they are about the same distance apart.
What is your favorite thing to shoot outdoors when the sky is evenly gray so the light is very even???
I know some people love this type light. I want to know how to use it as best I can.
I like it for pictures of people. It flatters.
Its evenness makes it very nice for taking flower shots, though a tripod is sometimes necessary. The lack of deep shadows reveals a lot of detail, and strong colors, especially reds, will tend to pop from the surrounding foliage.
I find around midday is best. Too late in the day everything goes blue.
I do use a digital device in my photographic pursuits when necessary.
When someone rags on me for using film, I use a middle digit, upraised.
Shots like this (a recent Monthly Shooting Assignment entry):
Matt
“Photography is a complex and fluid medium, and its many factors are not applied in simple sequence. Rather, the process may be likened to the art of the juggler in keeping many balls in the air at one time!”
Ansel Adams, from the introduction to The Negative - The New Ansel Adams Photography Series / Book 2
It may be great for outdoor shots, but getting the will to get going to go shooting on an all grey day for me is a challenge.
I have a hard time getting anything going on such days, let alone creative photography exposures.
Most days like this one, grey, grey, grey, I eat my sandwich at 11:45, and then crawl under my desk and sleep for 50 minutes over the lunch hour.
Then at least I have the energy to make the best use of my day.
I get household chores done after dinner, get the kids to bed around 8pm, and then leavie my wife to watch her Larry King etc on her own.
I get revved up to print the spring, summer, and fall's backlog of negatives to be interpreted and brought into prints down in the mancave - my darkroom.
With the nap at lunch I am good to print til midnight, and not feel too wiped out when the alarm clock goes off at 6:20 the next weekday morning.
Shots like this (a recent Monthly Shooting Assignment entry):
People love to recycle, don't they
There is no doubt about the quality of light on such a day - great for portait (people, pets, flowers) or architecture photography. The problem is when? I go to work in the morning - it is dark, I come back in the afternoon - it is dark. I have to try night photography perhaps.
Mihai Costea
"There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye." - Neil Young
Adv Reply
Originally Posted by stradibarrius
