Sunny or Overcast?

An excellent photograph depends very much on the quality of light. You can take a great photo whether it is sunny or overcast, what will be different is what you choose as your subject.

Eiffel Tower, Paris, May 2006

Bright sunny days are great for photos that have the sky as the background. Days like these are great for photographing buildings, trees, landscapes. Think big. If there are some interesting clouds in the sky, even better. Photograph the clouds, include them in your composition. If you happen to be at the Eiffel Tower and it is overcast, you can still take the picture to prove you were there, but chances are it won't be the one you send out with your next Christmas card.

Bright days are not very good for taking pictures of flowers or anything else that you want to capture a lot of detail. The bright sun washes out the colours and will make your photo too harsh. Sometimes shadows can be distracting as well. The shadow of the truck does not add anything to this picture. Notice the fresh snow in the background, this picture was taken this afternoon in my backyard. Spring is on its way around here, but it hasn't quite arrived yet.


Cloudy and overcast days provide you with even lighting. On overcast days the sky is dull, grey and boring, so don't put it in your picture. Think small. It is a good day for close ups (bring your tripod). Notice the difference in the colours of the truck. I moved the truck two feet to the left so it was in the shade.

Taking portraits of people is worth its own separate blog post. However, in general it is a good idea to keep people's faces out of the bright sun. I'll write more on that later.

Knowing the weather helps me choose what equipment I should bring when I'm heading out. If it's sunny, I'll want a wide angle lens. On overcast days I'll bring my telephoto lens and my tripod. If it's raining (or still snowing!) I'll bring a large ziploc bag to put my camera in.