Gray days create a sense of softness.

PROBLEMS: Lack of Sun, abundance of moisture

Current spring days often suffer from a lack of sun and (often) rain. This does several things to the light level of any scene:

–the overall light level is flat –shadow areas block up without light –the entire scene may have a boring sameness

Solution: Dial up creativity and reach for a polarizing filter

Here’s what to do in this situation:

–allow enough photo time to find contrasting areas of a scene where flowers have added color

–a slight overexposure will add some detail to shadows OR add light by bouncing light from an external flash on to a large white card

— increase depth-of-field when photographing large areas

–use a polarizing filter to saturate the small amount of color that exists in the scene OR think small

— use a close-focus setting or macro lens to capture water drops on petals or images reflected by water on newly-emerging leaves

–look for single leaf on a branch, then fill the frame with it

–consider shooting in monochrome mode if your camera has that provision OR take out the color when you’re on the computer back at the ranch

In any light level:

–use moderate ISO setting (100 or 200 best, 320 ok, 400 if you must and have no camera support) and turn off auto focus

Northwestern Magazine Feature Story

My sincere thanks and congratulations to Hannah Hall on her very well-written article.