Dull

Photographing in Grey Light: Embrace Dull Days

Grey light. It’s not much fun is it?

Especially if you were planning to go out taking photographs. It can put you right off! But today I am going to give you three reasons why you should photograph even on the dullest of days.

Not every day can be a gloriously sunny day – or a day of dramatic clouds overhead. Some days the clouds roll in and turn the sky grey. It becomes featureless and uninspiring. If you are lucky the sun might just about appear as a smudge. If you are unlucky it will start raining.

For the cloudspotters amongst you, these are the stratus or altostratus clouds. They are low to medium height clouds which can cover the sky in a featureless grey. There is also nimbostratus which does the same and throws in rain. In all of them the sky will hang in the background of your photographs, just looking a little boring.

But I am here today to praise boring skies. There are times when opaque skies can be useful for your photography.

So here are three ways to think differently about dull days.

First of all, rethink boring.

Instead of dull, think of them as quiet and reflective, maybe an element of melancholy? How could you capture that? Or, if the sky is darker perhaps your subject could be more moody and dramatic? In both cases colour will play a minimal role. You might just be thinking of black and white or shades of grey. For the quiet and contemplative mood perhaps choose lighter shades of grey; for drama choose darker shades. In both circumstances carefully consider composition to make sure that your subject is separated from the background.

This photograph was taken on a cold and overcast day in an out of season holiday resort. I watched this woman walking down by the water’s edge. Her head was down, hands in her pockets, and she was lost in thought. I think that the muted light provided by the dull day added to the mood of the image.

Then think in colour

Yes, I know I said everything is grey on dull days. That isn’t always the case, though. Sometimes, instead of greys, choose muted colours. And there are times when a little spot of colour in an otherwise world of greys can play its part.

Go back to the photograph of the woman walking on the beach. Did you notice the spot of colour? That little bit of orange on the top of her sweater lifts the picture.

On a dull overcast day colours can in fact look more saturated than on a sunny day. The even lighting gives you a more uniform tone. On a brighter day the sun will throw highlights and shadows onto your subject. This means that any colour will have darker and lighter patches.

I saw these red autumnal leaves one morning as I was taking a stroll before work. I try to do that as often as I can. In this image I liked how their deep red colours stood out along with the black fence and the red brick wall. It was an overcast day which I think made the colours more saturated.

Think natural lighting

An overcast sky can also be helpful when it comes to lighting your subject. Natural light portraits can benefit from the softer light a dull day gives. Both the stratus and altostratus clouds have a variation which allows the sun to shine weakly through. This can give just enough form to your subject.

Natural soft light is great for portraiture as it casts an even light across the person.

I took this photograph of a friend as we went for a stroll through some woodland. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was no longer reaching into the wooded valley. There was still enough light to capture this picture of her as she tentatively stepped over a gulley.

It can also work for still life and architectural photographs.

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Next time it looks dull and overcast think melancholy or drama, think colour, think natural lighting.

One thing you might notice in all of the photographs I have shown here is that the sky hardly appears. It looks much better out of the picture as it is likely to be overexposed. On overcast days look elsewhere for photographs. Tilt the camera down and focus on what the sky is lighting and not the sky itself. Maybe portraits, or still life, or street photography instead.

Even dull skies can have a part to play in your photography. So if you look out the window and see that it is overcast don’t be disappointed. Head out with your camera and see what you can discover. Unless, of course, the clouds are nimbostratus. In which case stay at home and keyword your photographs! Although I recently wrote about photographing in the rain so there is no excuse to stay at home.

If you do decide to get out photographing on dull days I would love to see your pictures. If you share them on Instagram tag my name, @stephentaylorphotography, so I can see them.