What a beautiful couple of days we are having! It’s hard to believe it is late October. Weather like this makes me feel that I should be out taking photos or swimming at the Lido. Unfortunately today I have admin work to do so I’m not doing either, but I can see the golden light bathing the trees from the window of my studio.
Sunny autumn days produce some of my favourite light, as seen in this old blog post. However, with photography, sunny is not always best. Middle of the day sun in summer can be way too harsh, washing out the pictures and leaving everyone squinting – a nightmare of wedding photography. A bright but overcast day might not give that beautiful blue sky in the pictures but can provide much more flattering light for the people being photographed acting as a huge softbox – like taking the biggest and best studio lights on location with you.
With this in mind I want to share some pictures from a session I did earlier this month. We planned to shoot in The Rookery on Streatham Common (one of my favourite and most local locations, check out another shoot I did there) as it was a special place for the family, but said we’d confirm depending on the weather. When Saturday came it was very grey, drizzling and with the weather reports promising much worse. After a quick discussion with the family we decided to go ahead, with them bringing raincoats. I was confident that the light would be right to take some really nice photos, my only concern was that they were comfortable enough.
It was a really enjoyable shoot. The kids were happy and expressive in an environment that they obviously felt comfortable in. As the weather worsened we got the park to ourselves and sheltered under a tree. I captured some beautifully tender moments between the two children, which was what the parents had hoped for from the session. I was even given a flower by the little boy which made my day – the photographer never normally gets a present so I am treasuring that! I was also happy to get some unique pictures of the family group in brightly coloured raincoats.
So my point is: yes – run out and take pictures on glorious days like today but don’t be put off by the rain and cold. By understanding light and knowing your locations you can take successful photos in any circumstances and those taken when the sun isn’t shining might be more interesting. I’m a firm believer that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing – so while I’m enjoying today’s sun I’ve got my waterproofs and warm clothes ready and am looking forward to photographing outside all winter.
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Well written!