Fine weather is boring for landscape photography

Monday 18 December 2023, 20:20 by Nando Harmsen | 4,865 views | 6 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

We all enjoy fine weather. When it rains or the sky is cloudy, landscape photography is not usually the first thing that comes to mind. Yet it may be much more interesting than fine weather. I find fine weather rather boring for landscape photography.

I hear it sometimes when we are travelling. People see the camera and say: "Oh, what a shame the sun isn't shining." But that is exactly what I often don't want as a landscape photographer. Fine weather is boring.

The light is beautiful, the atmosphere serene. But really, it is rather boring.
I want clouds, rain, storms and snow. That is exactly what gives a landscape photo something special. It creates dramatic skies, threatening rain showers and beautiful light. If you are by the sea, a storm also creates fantastic movement in the water.

Storm and rain create huge dynamism in the photo. It is exciting, thrilling.
That means you sometimes get wet. Or it can be difficult to stay on your feet in the storm. But you need to dress and prepare for that. A good raincoat, protection for your camera bag and camera. Then you are ready for the moment between the showers too.

It was still raining an hour earlier. If you wait at home, you miss the light.
At sunrise and sunset, this kind of weather creates colour in the sky. Beautiful red colours in the sky, and the low-angle light creates impressive lines and patterns in the clouds. When the sun breaks through as well, it is fantastic.

Here comes the shower. And indeed, 10 minutes later visibility in this snow shower was almost zero.
Who knows, you might get lucky during so-called bad weather. You may see the shower approaching like a curtain of water. If the sun breaks through as well, there is always a chance of a fantastic rainbow.

Sometimes I like a beautiful calm sky, and a bit of mist can be lovely too. Of course, I can enjoy that as well. But in the end, I always remain fond of unsettled weather and the dynamism it brings to the photo.

Let the following photos inspire you to go out when the weather is not so wonderfully bright. These images were made not despite the weather, but precisely because of it.

Don't stay at home too quickly, go out. Don't stare at the weather app too much, look at the sky instead. Take your chance and enjoy it.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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6 comments

Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 19 December 2023 at 10:26 | reply
Nando, let me agree with you completely this time. I am absolutely not a fan of bright blue skies.Either of uniformly grey skies. There should be something to see and experience. I think fog is great, especially ground fog. Impressive cloudy skies work well for me too. I don't need snow, because that makes it virtually physically impossible for me to go out. I would rather leave that to others. After all, you shouldn't necessarily want everything either.
Translated from Dutch.

PixelDude wrote on Tuesday 19 December 2023 at 11:14 | reply
What is 'bad' weather? Maybe it's better to define 'great photography weather', and sunshine can be part of that too.
Threatening clouds, ground mist, rain, sunbeams, lightning bolts, rainbows, sunrises and sunsets, ... can be interesting to photograph. What we humans experience as bad or good weather is not analogous to bad or good photography weather.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 19 December 2023 at 17:01 | reply
Bad weather is personal. Although the KNMI has been giving the weather a grade for several years now. As if it were a pass or a fail.
Beautiful weather for sun-loving Netherlands is bad weather for the photographer. Beautiful weather for the photographer is sometimes due to climate change. Something like that...
Translated from Dutch.

Henk van NIeuwenhuizen wrote on Tuesday 19 December 2023 at 12:14 | reply
Dear Nando, I too endorse your opinion and attitude.
Because our little frog country offers us so many variations in terms of the weather that sometimes people around the world can be somewhat jealous of our 4 seasons, which Donald also agrees with. I had the opportunity through my work to take photos for ± 10 years from a factory site on the Zaan to the other side, where there were farmers and a nature reserve, from both high and low viewpoints. For that, we do not have to be abroad.
Translated from Dutch.

Martin Hermes wrote on Tuesday 19 December 2023 at 13:02 | reply
Even in nice weather you can take beautiful photos you have to see it and taste the atmosphere whether the sun is shining or not doesn't matter at all.
Photos of desert dunes are beautiful when the sun is shining. The statement "Nice weather is boring for landscape photography" is not correct the statement "I FIND nice weather is boring for landscape photography" should have been the heading of this article.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 19 December 2023 at 17:03 | reply
See the last line of the first paragraph
Translated from Dutch.

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