Page 43 - Cape-Camera-July-August-2021

Cape Camera July/August 2021

a protective sleeve for your camera body to take advantage of which eliminates the contrast that helps us to differentiate land
the unique photographic opportunities that wet weather can from clouds. This is why looking at visible satellite information
provide. is useful: when the sun hits the clouds, we can distinguish them
Storms from the land because they are so reflective. The visible satellite
Storms create some of the most challenging, but also reward- information also shows fog. The major drawback of visible satel-
lites? It doesn’t work at night.
ing conditions for landscape and nature photographers. I love a
good storm, and I’ll bet many of you do, too. When storms are in When looking at the satellite data display, I look at both the cur-
the forecast, I try to think of locations that I know of that I may rent frame, then I animate a loop which shows the trend of the
want to capture with dramatic light and interesting cloud for- cloud movement over the past 2-3 hours. This way, I can antici-
mations, wind and waves, lightning and rainbows. Strong winds pate where clouds may go and plan accordingly.
can stir up sand and dirt, snow and water, creating textures in Ventusky app
the atmosphere that just aren’t present on calm days. When the This app gives the user a very good idea of the vertical distri-
storm is approaching or departing, the contrast of bright sun- bution of clouds as well as the aerial coverage and provides
light shining on your foreground with dark, foreboding skies trends for forecasting cloud cover. I particularly appreciate the
above isn’t just dramatic, it’s also good storytelling. While you fact that you can separate cloud cover into high, mid, and low
can sometimes make interesting photographs inside a storm, layers. While the Meteoblue site is helpful, I actually prefer to
the edges of incoming or departing storms are where I like to see cloud layers overlaid onto a small regional map because
focus most of my attention. It also happens to be safer photo- that gives me an idea of not only the aerial coverage of vari-
graphing storms that aren’t on top of you. My wife likes that. ous cloud layers, but also trends as I look at movement in incre-
Weather and Mood ments of several hours.
Instead of simply seeking the moments of maximum drama, Windy.com
colour, and intensity, we can use the weather to express other Windy has much of the same information you find in other
feelings and ideas. Serenity and calmness can be conveyed in a weather apps, with one very important addition, webcams. I
picture of a perfectly still reflection in a mountain lake or an im- like to check webcams whenever possible to monitor condi-
age with gently falling snow. How about swirling mists to com- tions on the ground in real time at locations I’m either interest-
municate a sense of mystery? A colossal sunset to communicate ed in traveling to, or where weather headed my way is coming
awe and wonder? An electric storm to communicate energy from.
and excitement? Brooding emotions with ominous skies and
dark tones? There is no limit to using weather to express ideas Magic Seaweed
and metaphors. Be creative! Magic Seaweed is my go-to resource for wave height forecasts.
Resources – Apps and Websites You can enter a location you would like to visit and check out
the predicted heights of waves over the next 7 days. Big waves
My students always ask: What app will tell me when and where are a ton of fun to shoot. There’s often a fine line between being
to be to capture the most interesting photos? Basically, what’s in a storm with huge waves, which isn’t particularly photogenic
the shortcut? The truth is that no one app is going to give you all or much fun to shoot because of all the water in the air, and just
the information you need to make informed decisions about in- as the storm passes. At this point the clearing air makes photog-
corporating weather into your shooting plans. There are notori- raphy much more productive, but the waves also quickly die
ously unreliable apps like Skyfire and Sunsetwx that portend to down.
tell you exactly when and where there will be a colourful sunrise Tying It All Together
or sunset. Based on what I’ve heard from friends who use these,
they are accurate about 20% of the time. A basic understanding How do I use all of this to plan a shoot? I take any weather
of cloud patterns will help you predict colourful sunrises and forecast beyond 5 days with a grain of salt. That said, I do start
sunsets with much more accuracy. And besides, there’s more to looking at the long range forecast when I’m thinking about big
life, and photography, than colourful sunrises and sunsets! storms, cold snaps, and other conditions I’m interested in. At
Meteoblue – www.meteoblue.com about 3 days out, I’ll start to take things more seriously. If I’m
hoping to capture colourful golden hour light, I’ll look at Ven-
Meteoblue has some of the most useful weather information for tusky for cloud patterns, watching especially for clouds moving
photographers in an easy-to-understand format. I start by look- in at sunrise or departing at sunset. I’ll look for fog and mist for
ing at the extended forecast to pinpoint areas of general inter- certain subjects. I’ll look for clear skies for night photography.
est that I might be looking for in future explorations, like storms If it’s winter, I’ll be watching for snowstorms and hoping that
and fog. What I like the most about this app is the Meteogram, we’ll get a ton of snow. If it’s summer, I’ll be watching for thun-
where I pay close attention to the vertical distribution of clouds. derstorms. The day before a shoot, I’ll usually try to solidify my
I like to see high and sometimes mid-level clouds as opposed to plans in regards to locations I want to target based on condi-
low clouds, and I like to see them at the junctures between day tions. I’ll pull up Meteoblue to check conditions down to the
and night if I’m hoping to capture dramatic golden hour light. hour. Then the morning of a shoot, I’ll check conditions in real
GOES Satellite Viewers – weather.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/ time looking at the GOES Satellite viewer as well as radar, ani-
This is the site I use when I want to check out current cloud con- mating them both to view movement. If it looks like the plans
ditions. I look at both infrared and visible wavelengths. Infrared I made the day before aren’t going to pan out as I hoped they
shows important information about the height of the clouds. would, I will make last minute adjustments. I really do some-
Bright whites, reds, and yellows denote very high, cold clouds. times follow the weather above all other considerations.
This is important because in many instances, the taller the clouds I hope that you keep these things in mind next time you go out.
are, the better they are at catching light when the sun is at low The rewards of a deeper understanding of what we are trying to
angles. Remember that low clouds often act to block sunlight. capture are evident not only when it comes to the subjects we
Infrared doesn’t show these low clouds very well, because their are photographing, but also the conditions we capture them in.
warmth isn’t too far from that of the land masses beneath them,

Cape Town Photographic Society 42