Why I Love Bad Weather

It's gloomy and wet outside, as it has been for the last few weeks. And I love it. From a photographer's point of view, that is. I've long been of the opinion that bad weather is a photographer's best friend. Not for me those picture-postcard blue skies and blazing sunlight, or sunsets where the sun is a glowing billiard ball in an otherwise featureless sky (wait, I made that sound rather nice, didn't I?).

I mean, think about it. There's nothing more boring than a bright blue sky in a photograph that has a considerable portion devoted to the sky, unless you want to use it in a children's picture-book or something. In which case, you might as well photoshop a smiley face on the sun to go with it. On the other hand, add a few clouds to the picture, and it at once acquires some character, and, as Flickr would have it, "interestingness". And as far as glare and contrasts are concerned - don't even go there. We've all seen those washed-out skies or too-dark subjects because you couldn't appropriately capture one without messing up the other (yes, I know that's what graded filters are for, but hey, let's keep life simple). You don't usually have these issues when the horizon just separates two shades of dark.

Or consider urban photography. Say you're taking pictures of a great city at night. Those neon signs, those brightly-lit windows...and now think of the same picture after a shower leaves the city with wet streets reflecting those coloured lights in crazy patterns, where puddles reflect those twinkling windows, and headlights catch the spray from the cars in front. Or think of an everyday street, choked with commuters during rush hour. Pretty pedestrian, if you'll excuse the pun. But just a touch of rain, and out come the brollies, turning a rather ordinary scene into a heaving, jostling river of wet umbrellas. I know which one I'd rather snap.

Take this picture that I took in Brussels. It would have been interesting as a situation, with the guys' expressions and all that - but the wetness gives it a completely different feel and atmosphere.

There's something that the viewer feels as well, when looking at a picture taken in bad weather. It's hard to define, but something like a feeling of being glad to be safe indoors, a "I don't wish I were there" at the very least, and a feeling of exhilaration in some cases, faced with a stormy scene with lashing rain and lightning, for example.

The things one does in pursuit of that perfect picture!