Hey all!
So, today is all about those dreamy days when we’re lazy and chill and just don’t want to take any serious shots. So, what better time to take shots of cloudy clouds.
I love taking pics of clouds because it allows me to experiment with colours and shutter speeds. It’s just good for trial and error because it’s always around and I can always try again! And it’s doesn’t look intimidating (unlike longboards)!
For this page, I’m gonna post a couple of shots of clouds and just run through them. It’ll be a light and breezy post, cause I’ve learnt a few pointers about clouds after taking many, many, many shots. I’ll categorise them into a few types and you can take your pick! Choose wisely, earthlings!
First up, we’ll start with the basic clouds, the AEROPLANE BLANKET:
I know, this is really cliché taking a picture form the aeroplane, but I just had to. Clouds at eye-level are pretty amazing. I really think this the best kind of shot to get to absorb the fundamentals of clouds. Before playing around with angles and other technical stuff, we should really analyse how clouds reflect light, they move fast and are WHITE (turn up that contrast!).
Really basic stuff, reasonable shutter speed of 1/125, ISO 100 and f/22. I didn’t even play around with the colour but a bit of contrast does help bring out the “whiteness” of the clouds, that extra umppph!
So, i literally looked up and took this shot. With minor changing of colour to give it that blue hue, I think I got a pretty dramatic effect. And also some basic shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, like I said, pretty simple stuff!
Nope, just kidding! It was an easy shot but not that easy! I needed a very, very, very fast shutter speed. Small as in 1/4000. It was to cut out the light from in between the clouds to give it that sense of gloominess. Did it work?
One of my favourites, the MOVING CLOUDS!
Hah, this is rally vain, but I really like this one. I think it’s because it gives the illusion like it was part of some time lapse or just moving really fast when I took it.
So, for a moving cloud, all it needs is a BIG aperture, and I mean big! (or in other words, small f/stop). This was taken at my camera’s maximum aperture, a f/22. Yes, big cause it really captures the movement. So, this was a really sunny day and a really short shutter speed would be thoroughly need. But because of my big aperture cutting out a lot of light, I couldn’t use a very fast shutter speed. So, instead of something like 1/4000, I opted for 1/52 shutter speed.
Time to play around a bit! The “Olympus is Falling” shot!
I’m not sure why I called it that, but it’s kinda apt. I think it’s cause of the sun rays coming out from the middle makes it look like Zeus has come down to this to marry some mortal or something 😉
In terms of technique, this was a pretty easy shot: ISO 100, f/4.5, and shutter speed 1/640 (it was a gloomy day and to make it gloomier a very fast shutter speed was not needed). The reason why it’s darker around the bottom edges is because of the position of the sun in the middle and with some changes to the light balance. So, in this shot, it’s about playing with shutter speed, angles and position of the light source.
Lastly, the RETRO CLOUD!
It’s pretty hard to get a black white shot of clouds. This may be a surprise to some, like me, but the sunlight really does blind out the clouds because of its contrast. So, f/5.6 and shutter speed 250 did the trick. I think both the elements had to be pretty moderate because of the strong contrast of the black and white. It needs a good balance and white balance!
In a nutshell
It’s all about balance. You know, balance between fun, shutter speed (mainly) and and fluffiness! So, let me know how it goes