Here in the Midwest I enjoy shooting waterfalls. The other day I posted a waterfall image on social media, and someone commented something like "too bad you weren't here yesterday when it was sunny!"
I don't often talk with other landscape photographers, but when I do it's always fun to compare notes. And one thing that we agree on is that our concept of 'good weather' is just about the polar opposite to everyone else's. Take the previously mentioned waterfall, for example. Here in Missouri, most falls are 'seasonal', meaning that there's probably not going to be any water running unless it has been raining. A lot. In addition, if I'm trying to 'soften' the water, I'm going to want an exposure time of at least 2 or 3 seconds.......so it's helpful to have cloudy skies and subdued lighting. In fact, direct sun is usually the worst sort of lighting for outdoor photography, as it creates harsh contrast and washes out color.
I was supposed to be on the north rim of the Grand Canyon this week, shooting storms and rain over the canyon. Early August is 'monsoon season' in Arizona, when moisture comes in from the south and bubbles up into afternoon and evening thunderstorms...and clouds and fog linger overnight and into the morning hours. Except that this week, an unusually hot and dry air mass has moved in, and the the forecast for the next week or more is for hot, dry and clear conditions. Most visitors to the Grand Canyon would be delighted with a forecast of sunshine day after day after day. I got on line and cancelled.
The shot below was taken a few years ago at Dead Horse Point, in Utah. I was camping there in the fall during an unusually cold, wet week with periods of rain, snow and fog that lasted for days. For three mornings in a row I waited at one of my favorite overlooks...and finally got about 2 or 3 shots when the rain briefly quit and a few rays of sun lit the canyon. This particular image
was taken with an ancient wide angle lens on my view camera. I intentionally gave it a sort of antique look fitting the equipment.
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