This quick article will show you three ways how to How to Capture Dramatic Skies in nature photography!
These 3 easy things will help you to capture dramatic skies in nature photography. You can easily add all sorts of pizzaz to create WOW shots, rather than snapshots.
First, I find that to capture dramatic skies in nature photographs is much easier when there are a few clouds. Clouds add some interest and form, and they scatter light in weird ways to give you some really unusual effects.
Second: To further enhance these effects and create more dramatic skies, set your exposure to let less light in (either a faster shutter speed or smaller shutter opening) to your camera, the clouds and sky will be more dramatic and less washed out looking.
Here’s why! Remember Grade 6 science class – clouds are just water vapour, water reflects light, and the millions of water droplets in the clouds reflect lots of light! That’s why they are white! If you reduce the amount of light that reaches the film, (to create a really dramatic sky,) colours will be darker and the areas of really bright light won’t be so overwhelming. This will let more of the colour come through in your final image.
And three: Another very cool thing to do to increase the drama in your skies, is to use a circular polarizing filter. This filter changes the way the camera “sees” light. The filter reduces reflections in the sky, including the light reflected from clouds and haze in the atmosphere. Once again, when you reduce this light scattering, you get a really dramatic sky, and WOW results!
POLIARIZING FILTERS
You can buy polarizer filters at just about any camera shop and they’re not too expensive. I get my camera filters here.
You just need to know the diameter of the lens you’ll be using it with. Although it CAN get pricey, I’ve found that having polarizer filters for all my main lenses is a small price to pay for the huge difference in the impact of the images!
And finally, here’s a big time PRO TIP: If you are an avid nature photographer. On your photo outings, wear polarizing sunglasses. It will open up a whole new range of scenes! It’s like seeing with alien eyes! You can see without the glare, so you’ll discover many more unusual scenes and shots to photograph, when using your polarizing filter! AND you’ll be able to get that dramatic sky shot you are looking for!