Do you want to hang a boring picture on your wall? That’s right. But what can we do to turn boring weather conditions into interesting photos?
In my latest video on how I succeeded with the most boring weather conditions in landscape photography, we should first clarify what boring conditions really are. As landscape photographers, we know that rain is our friend for capturing forest scenes, as it accentuates contrast on all surfaces and also saturation on foliage. We know that fog or mist can help us simplify our shots and can even add a mystical mood. A nasty blizzard can help us add drama to our winter shots. So what are the boring conditions?
Positive image
Non-photographers and even beginners in landscape photography often think that they have to take each photo in clear sunny conditions. Just think of holiday photos. The simple reason is that most people are most comfortable in the sun. We hope to have some sunshine when we fly over the holidays. And photographers tend to bring a positive mood into their photos. They want viewers to experience the same positive emotions as when they see the images.
By the way, that’s also why we’ve all learned to smile into the camera when being photographed. We just wanted to convey that we are happy to be photographed. The results are positive images. Whenever we look at a positive image, mirror neurons in our brain indicate a positive mood. Then we feel good because we imagine how comfortable it is inside the frame. So should we only shoot sunny scenes? No, there are plenty of possibilities for positive images, like a golden glow at sunset or sunrise, a rainbow, a magical backlit tree starting to glow, or even a tranquil blue hour scene with orange sky.
Negative image
Instead, landscape shots with bad weather show us that the inside of the frame is quite uncomfortable and we begin to feel better because we know we are outside the frame, where the feeling is. feel much more comfortable. It’s like peering through the window of an alpine cabin as the wind blows and the thermometer shows the icy temperature outside while we’re enjoying the hum of the wood-burning stove and drinking a cup of hot tea. The image of discomfort is negative. It’s important that they don’t convey discomfort, just express it. And this makes us feel more comfortable. Just think of an image of a thunderstorm, a waterfall scene in a misty canyon, a misty mountain scene, or a cold winter scene.
What is the boring condition?
Boredom are conditions that do not allow us to use positive or negative moods to elicit positive emotions. We usually always try to use weather conditions to our advantage. After all, they are part of the story and often add to it. Boring weather conditions are things that no one wants to see.
In my video, you see me wandering the Alps after a rainy winter night. Rain is a great composition for negatives, but when we have winter and everything is covered in snow, the rain washes away all the snow on the trees, so they’re bleak and dull. The rest of the snow on the ground has an unappealing texture so a vista looks flat and boring and a woodland scene is almost impossible, as the bright snow draws the viewer’s eye to the ground. , while the fragile, gloomy canopy and branches will get lost in the composition.
How did I finally succeed?
You can use conditions as part of your story, but that only works when you have a positive or a negative notion. Or if you can’t use conditions as part of your story, you can try to find a way to exclude boring conditions from your composition. In my video, I finally decided on the latter. I walked to a place where the snowfall didn’t have the biggest effect on my image. In this case, I went to a waterfall, took some beautiful shots.
More tips and my thoughts on finding composition are revealed in the video linked above. Leave us a comment below about which weather conditions you struggled with the most.
