Guide
Thunderstruck – how to photograph storms
by David Lee
Photographing clouds: In the right place at the right time
19.8.2019
Translation: machine translated
Clouds can be more than just a nice side vegetable in a photo - they can also be the main motif. A few tips and ideas on how to take exciting cloud pictures.
Clouds are easy to photograph. You don't need any special equipment or settings. Shooting with a smartphone is often enough. For example, I took this picture with an old, cheap smartphone - the Samsung Galaxy A3.
Good cloud photos are taken when the opportunity is right. You'll get them more often if you know what a good opportunity is.
The more structure, the better
The sky needs as much structure as possible. A cloudless or evenly overcast sky does not make an interesting subject. Some clouds have more structure than others, as can be seen in this cloud atlas. Here in a slightly larger size, in case you can't read the labelling.
Before the thunderstorm
Clouds with a lot of structure often form when the weather is quite nice but prone to thunderstorms. This is a thundercloud of the cumulonimbus type.
How to find thunderstorms without getting struck by lightning in this article.
Dawn, morning and evening light
Even with clouds, the light is more suitable for photography in the early morning or evening than at midday. Cloud structures appear more clearly when the light comes from the side. In this photo, the sky is almost completely overcast, but the evening light still makes it look dramatic.
During dusk, the clouds change colour from white to reddish and then to dark grey - darker than the cloudless parts of the sky. You can capture very different moods within a very short time. But what makes things really interesting is that the low-lying clouds darken earlier than the clouds in the higher spheres. That's why you can see the entire colour spectrum at the same time at dusk in ideal conditions.
Suitable locations
Of course, you want to see as much sky as possible, so you need to get out of the city or village. Wide plains, lakes and vantage points are good. Mountain peaks too, of course, as long as they are not covered in clouds themselves.
No rule without exception: glass skyscrapers can reflect clouds beautifully. But you shouldn't walk carelessly past puddles either.
Editing: RAW works wonders
Always take photos in RAW format if possible. You'll get a lot more out of it in post-processing. Even a monotonous grey in grey comes to life with RAW editing. In Lightroom, the "Remove haze" slider is a good place to start; it reveals the potential of a photo.
With the individual colour channels and the white balance, you can create very different moods from the same photo.
Here is a RAW photo of Milano with neutral basic settings. [[image:28274421]]
If I set the white balance to cool colours and darken the blue tones, something like this comes out. [[image:28274419]]
However, I can also emphasise the warm colours that are also present in the RAW information. To do this, I increase the saturation of the corresponding colour channels.
Already underchallenged? Then try these ideas
You can photograph clouds very easily, but you can achieve even more with advanced techniques. After your first attempts, you can try long exposure photography, for example. In strong winds and fast-moving clouds, time-lapse videos are also a good option. This involves taking photos at short intervals and then automatically compiling them into a video. Advanced landscape photographers often work with grayscale filters to compensate for the high contrasts. Exposure bracketing fulfils the same purpose. You won't get bored that quickly with just clouds.
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
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