Create Surreal, Dramatic Photography

Using Overcast Weather
To Invoke Depth And Drama

Often people blame the weather for “raining on their parade”. I live in Pittsburgh. Often the skies are grey, and the ground slick from rain.

We’re going to focus on how “blah” weather can be a reason to step out and utilize this sky filter for some unique photography, and what you need to prepare yourself to create dramatic edits of your photos.

Overcast doesn’t always mean Rain!
Even if it does, it’s 2019. We have plenty of ways to protect our Gear.
( A black trash bag does wonders over your backpack )

Umbrellas! If the weather is a light mist, you can protect yourself and the camera by simply holding a small camera and umbrella. Note that its quite difficult with bigger Cameras with heavy lenses. Pack light for this one.

Long exposures of the moving clouds create a silky dream- like look. Play with exposure times because exposing during the day can be tricky. Often ND Filters can benefit day time long exposures.

Overcast Blue Hour, Creates a magical effect.

No adjustments made here, Just beautiful neutral blue and grey tones.

Colors look better under soft light.
Overcast skies will often compliment neutral tones.
Find subjects and create depth that will accentuate the scene for fluid dramatic edits.

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for reflections.
After fresh rain, the concrete holds tiny mirrors for us to play with. Great for catching lights, textures, and unique perspectives.

You don’t have to be in the rain, to create rainy moods.

Head to your local coffee shop, Find a new model in front of the wet windows at home, Or go for a car ride and stop to take a picture from the window.

Rain gives us a fresh new spin on the same ole view we see.
The contrast from the overcast skies gives us a new approach to naked colors.

Here’s some ideas to Photograph in rainy weather.

• Reflections, Glass, Cement, Windows.
• Zoom in! Beads of water look really incredible.
• Landscapes getting a fresh coat of water
• Peoples faces can really hold mood, texture and story during natural weather events.
• Moving water along creeks, pipes, or steam.
• Cars in the rain, the lights create long magical effects.
• The rain itself.

Let the weather push dramatic edits.

Let’s look at a totally flat RAW image from an overcast day during one of my recent outings.

Look at those deep colors!

This was taken in traffic on highway 376 during the evening. Totally unedited, shot with a Lumix GH4. You can see what kind of contrast heavy overcast tones give you. Also deep color profiles during certain times of the day like we see here. Even during Sunset, shades of orange and red can really set a vibrant tone with cloud cover.

This does absolute wonders for Portraits, giving you no squinting eyes, smooth skin, and neutral skin tones. Sometimes its nice to shoot when the sun is high, forcing shadows and harsh contrast. But I find that shooting in overcast blankets before noon, gives me pretty consistent results.

Final Edit

This is ultimately your decision. But if you can set the tone in camera before the edit, it’ll be pretty easy. Often a good starting point is trying out a few presets, watch the sliders, check highlights and shadows and adjust to your liking.

Natural jpeg. No edits.

Presets via Lightroom

B&W Preset 2 | Dramatic Edit

Let’s review the slider changes.

I’ve acclimated myself to shooting in wet conditions.
It’s even cost me some gear in the process.
What type of weather can you acclimate yourself to?
Hone your skills and overcome the weather, and I think you’ll achieve those moody dramatic edits you wanted.

Just protect yourself, and experiment.