Everyone has their own goals in life. For some, it’s about climbing a mountain or writing a novel. For others, it’s a photo of extreme weather that is then listed on their local weather report. The problem is, it’s not as easy to take a picture of an incoming storm or cloud formation of decent quality as it sounds. In fact, most of the results are not great.
But there are ways to improve, and KXAN Austin has some suggestions. Here are some tips on how to capture the drama of a changing sky.
Be sure
This should go without saying, but you are not a professional storm chaser (unless you are) and your first priority should always be your safety. Also, do not take photos or videos while driving. If you encounter interesting looking weather along the way, either pass by first or let the passenger be the photographer.
Check the lighting
As with other types of photos, the lighting can capture storm shots or break them. Here’s how people are at KXAN propose Make sure your lighting is right:
To avoid this, most smartphones (if automatic settings are enabled in the camera app) allow you to tap different areas of the screen to adjust the lighting before taking a photo. Tapping a dark area will lighten some parts of the picture, and tapping a light area will darken parts of the picture. Same goes for video.
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Avoid using the flash setting on your phone (or camera) whenever possible. This is not the time.
Keep it in focus
If there’s something up close in your photo – like a large hail of hail – take a second or two to focus the shot. Here is KXAN again with a tip:
Similar to adjusting lighting, tapping different areas of your screen in the Camera app will focus on the areas you tap. When you’re done, tap the subject of your photo so your smartphone camera can access it. Make sure to also stand as still as possible to avoid blurring.
And if the reason you’re taking a hail picture is because it’s unusually large, consider putting something else in the frame for scaling.
Use wide shots of stormy skies
When something really interesting is happening in the sky – like colorful cloud patterns during sunset or a rainbow – the temptation is to zoom in all the way so it looks as close as possible. Instead of resembling a picture from a science textbook, these photos are more grainy and of lower quality. Instead, stick to wide-angle shots.
