Late autumn skies may be grey more often than summer ones but there are still wonderful images to be captured. With more clouds in the sky, they become more important features in your photos.
Making clouds a feature means looking at the composition of your photos in a slightly different way; the sky will often form a much larger part of the image. This article covers the techniques but also shows great examples taken by 'Canon You Connect' members.
Topics covered:
• Getting the lighting right
• Cloud forms
• Elements of sky photography
• Black & white
• Color Accent
• Sunrise and sunset
• Rule of thirds
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| Bonnie banks, © Douglas McMinn 2011, Canon PowerShot SX110 IS |
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| Autumn, © Alec Schaerer 2011, Canon PowerShot A1200 |
Getting the lighting right
Your brain automatically compensates for changes in light, so that a sheet of paper appears white whether we view it in daylight or with indoor lighting. Auto White Balance (AWB) on your Canon camera ensures your camera behaves in the same way - making sure colours are accurate whatever the lighting conditions are.
Most of the time the AWB setting will give you great results; however adjusting the white balance to 'Cloudy' on the greyer days of autumn will bring out the colours you see in front of you. Experiment with different white balance settings for the same subject to see which you like best.
Cloud forms
Composition and content are vital for sky shots.
Sometimes the shape of the cloud formations you see can make a photo on its own. There are even websites dedicated to photos of unusually shaped clouds. There are no right and wrong answers, use your imagination. Here are some very effective examples from 'Canon You Connect' members.
Expanses of water will reflect the sky, giving added interest to your images.
However you do not have to specifically use lakes or rivers - focus on puddles in the street after a rainstorm for a similar effect or even wet sand by the sea.
Black & white
Clouds within skies naturally lend themselves to black & white photography. Use the 'My Colors' setting on your camera to achieve this and other similar monochrome effects.
An interesting mix of colour and black & white can be achieved with the 'Color Accent' menu. This lets you choose one colour whilst the rest of your image becomes black & white.
Light and layout
Sunrise and sunset
Cloud formations often appear particularly dramatic at sunrise and sunset. The warm glow of the sun can diffuse through clouds giving shades of orange and pink that will add colour to your images. Exposing just for the sky can work well, with the ground dark and often in silhouette.
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| Sunset, © Rolf Pahnhenrich 2011, Canon EOS 5D Mark II |
Rule of thirds
Just like other photos, the rule of thirds applies for photographing skies. Whilst typical landscape photos will have their skyline one third from the top, you should consider it being 1/3 from the bottom when photographing clouds and sky. This is demonstrated well in the image above.
The two vertical lines of the grid are also still important; they can be used for a relevant object in the foreground.
Post production
Once you have taken your photograph, you can process it using software on your computer. JPEG files can be adjusted to alter white balance, brightness, contrast and saturation. The G and S series PowerShot cameras as well as the more recent PowerShot SX50 HS can take photos in RAW format. Using the Digital Photo Professional software supplied with them, cropping and sharpening can be undertaken. The image can also be converted to black & white.
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