Doylem that shot is truly excellent.. Although I think it would be a bit nicer with a bright blue sky instead of those heavy clouds.
Thanks. When I shoot for myself (rather than, say, tourism promotors), I really prefer to shoot with clouds in the sky. 50% cloud, 50% blue sky is fine; 70% and 30% OK too (except the photo opportunities will be fewer). but unclouded blue skies just don't work for me. The light is too blue, too bland and too 'scattered', like a bare bulb lighting up a room.
When the light is coming out of a part-cloudy sky, it seems more directional... giving better contrast, colour saturation... more like a floodlight than a bulb. OK, you can't control the floodlight, but, on a breezy day, you can watch it move across the landscape until it's lighting up what you're interested in.
Plenty of photographers seem to do better than me with those big blue skies. Unless it's near dawn or dusk, I find that landscapes get 'overlit'... which tends to diminish the 3D effect (ie; it's the
quality of light that matters more, not the
quantity).
Does this make any sense to the other landscape photographers out there?