How to photograph the daytime sky
— -- Unless they're specifically photographing a sunrise (or sunset), the sky at twilight, or the moon and stars, most people tend to ignore the sky in their photography. This is really a shame, since it's almost always visible in outdoor shots. Paying attention to the sky as a photographic element can elevate your photos from mere snapshots to real works of art.
It's easy to understand why people tend to ignore the sky; generally speaking, it's not something you have any control over. If you're on vacation and photographing a famous landmark, you probably won't have the option of coming back on a different day, when the sky is more conducive to the sort of photo you'd love to take. Don't despair!
Read on to discover some of our favorite techniques for working with the sky you've got and making sure it becomes an intentional artistic element of your photographs, not just a washed-out background.
The sky's the limit
There are a few things you should keep in mind to help your sky photography shine.
— Turn away from the sun. Most of the time, you'll get the best skies where the sun is not. Position yourself so that the sun is between 90 and 180 degrees from your view. You'll reduce glare and get deeper blues behind the clouds, and the clouds themselves will be lit nicely.
— Avoid the middle of the day. The light is harshest during the middle of the day, creating dark shadows that are hard to compensate for. Try to avoid mid-day if possible.
— Use a wide-angle lens. If the subject is the sky itself, try using a wide-angle lens to capture more of it and give that wide-open look that makes landscape photography so powerful.
—A polarizing filter is almost always useful. When photographing the sky, this filter can go a long way toward capturing the gorgeous, saturated blue of a clear day or all the gradations of light and shadow in the clouds.
—A graduated neutral density filter is also useful. This type of filter is clear on one side and gradually darkens on the other; it's used to accommodate a bright sky with a darker foreground. Make sure you have it turned the right way!
The rule of thirds and you
The rule of thirds is an artistic rule that concerns the composition of your image. Generally speaking, the strongest compositions place the main subject at the intersection of the grid lines that trisect the image, while any strong vertical or horizontal elements sit along those lines. The horizon is just about the strongest horizontal line you're likely to find in any outdoor scene!
So how does that affect our discussion about photographing the sky? While you may not have any control over how the sky looks, you do have control over how much of it you include in your image. If it's truly flat and boring, you might want to put your horizon line along the upper third line, thus minimizing its presence in your shot. If you'd like to emphasize the sky, however, put the horizon along the lower third line to give your photograph a wide-open feel, highlighting the space and movement of the sky.
And of course, you don't have to follow the rule of thirds — like any artistic rule, it's meant to be learned and then broken. Especially when the subject of your photograph is the sky itself, it can be quite effective to put the horizon or any other earthbound elements at the very bottom edge of the image, where they can act as a frame without detracting from the beauty of the sky.
Exposing the sky
One of the most challenging compositions to expose properly is one that includes both the sky and a subject on the ground. Even on a cloudy day, the sky is filled with so much light that it's difficult to adequately light both the sky itself and your subject — either the sky becomes a washed-out slab of white, or your subject languishes in dark, underexposed shadows. In fact, though it seems counterintuitive, you'll find that there's actually even more of a difference in exposure values on a cloudy day.
So how do you deal with this issue? The general rule of thumb is to expose for the sky, because it's generally easier to make parts of the image lighter (either with lighting techniques while shooting or with effects in post-processing) than to make them darker if they're overexposed.
The simplest solution is to use a fill flash to light your subject. Even if your camera thinks it doesn't need the flash to get the exposure of the sky right, force it to fire anyway to light up your subject. Of course, this only works if your subject is close enough to be affected by the flash. If your subject is a mountain 50 miles away, your fill flash won't help much!
If you're fairly adept with Photoshop or other image editing software, you could also cheat and take two separate photos — one with the sky properly exposed and one with the subject properly exposed — and combine them in post-processing. Use a tripod or some other method of making sure that your photos are exactly the same in every way except exposure, because if you adjust your viewing angle or position even slightly, the differences in the photo will be obvious and difficult to blend.
Cloud-watching
There are many different types of clouds, from fluffy cumulus to wispy cirrus to ominous stratocumulus storm clouds. Depending on the look you're going for, you can use the clouds to enhance all sorts of moods in your photographs. Here are a few general tips for shooting photos of clouds.
—Use a long exposure to capture cloud movement. A polarizing filter will give you more contrast and let you use a longer exposure in brighter daylight scenes. This in turn lets you use a longer shutter speed, which blurs the movement of clouds on a windy day and gives a marvelous sense of energy and movement to the sky. Use a tripod so you don't just capture a blurry photo!
—Take advantage of the calm before a storm. If worrisome weather is coming in, find somewhere to watch it approach. The clouds that herald an incoming storm are often spectacular. Just be sure to keep an eye on any incoming rain, and set yourself up where you'll stay dry. You can often get stunning photos of lightning before a storm actually arrives — again, be safe!
—Shoot away from the sun. The best-lit clouds are on the side of the sky away from the sun.
—Shoot during the golden hour. Of course, some of the most spectacular clouds are seen at sunrise and sunset and in the hour before and afterward.
The sky is such an integral part of our everyday views that sometimes we even forget it's there. Don't let the sky be an afterthought in your photography! Look up every once in a while, and you'll find your photographic horizons expanding into beautiful territory.
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