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14 Be a stormchaser
Even with so many ‘stormchaser’
photographers working globally, great
photos are still to be had, reckons
storm specialist and Skylum
ambassador, Bastian Werner. Safety is
paramount, however, if you fancy a go.‘Never get in the inside of the storm, at
its core. This is the place where the
actual storm takes place with hail, high
wind gusts and maybe a tornado.
Before one goes stormchasing, make
sure you understand the subject.’12 Whole world is
a rainbow
If you’re lucky, a beautiful
rainbow appears after a
downpour as the sun comes out.
Checking the weather forecast in
advance is essential for rainbow
chasers and you’ll need to move
fast: a wideangle lens is usually
essential to get the rainbow in a
landscape, or use a telephoto to
pick out a feature. You may need
a tripod to avoid softness at
slower shutter speeds. Polarisers
are also really useful at beating
haze and boosting colours.13 Expose
correctly for snow
It’s basic, but worth repeating:
because of the way camera
metering systems work, you may
need to add between 0.7 and
2.0 stops of exposure
compensation to avoid snow
coming out ‘grey.’ Just keep an
eye on the histogram to make
sure you haven’t clipped the
highlights. It’s also wise to shoot
in raw to give you the most
latitude during editing,
particularly when it comes to
changing the white balance
(again, daylight white balance can
make the snow look blue-ish).11 Glad to be grey
We’ve discussed a lot of dramatic weather in this
feature, but all too often, dull grey skies are the default
here in the UK. In fact, grey skies suit a melancholy
landscape very well, or when shooting abandoned or
historic places or areas. As a grey sky acts like a giant
diffuser, it can also be helpful when shooting very
striking gardens (or people, as you don’t need to worry
about strong shadows and blown highlights).
© HELEN TRUST
© BASTIAN WERNER
© MICHELLE COWBOURNE