Photo Tips from Dave Ellem

Having photographed the weather for over 5 years now, I've come to learn a few things that may help anyone who wants to try taking weather photos get kick started. These tips are just my thoughts and opinions, and are offered only as suggestions that people may want to try. I still have much more to learn myself, so if you have any suggestions for some tips that I or others may find useful, feel free to email them to me.

Probably the best advice I could give before starting to take photos of the weather is to get some understanding of what's occurring. I know myself that if I was unable to forecast when and where thunderstorms are likely to occur, I could have missed out on some of the best photographs I have taken to date. In fact the two biggest and most dramatic storms I have ever witnessed occurred on days that had I had no understanding of how to forecast storms, I would have completely missed out on. So point number one is to grab a book on the basics of weather, or have a look at articles on the internet, and get a bit of an idea on how various aspects of the weather work. You will find you'll be able to be ready for the most dramatic shots when they come along.

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Understand the weather so you can get better photos of it

Get out there and experiment with the camera

It's a really good idea to look at many of the websites available that teach about photography so you can frame and capture your photos as best as possible. This is a rule I didn't actually adhere to - I just picked up a camera and experimented till I learnt how best to use the camera. While I may have gotten there in the end, a lot of my earlier photos could have been enhanced if I had framed them correctly, and used the correct settings on my camera. So read some books that detail the basics of photography, or have a look around on the net to get some ideas. Also, get out there and just start taking photos, as you'll start to pick skills up naturally.

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I use a digital camera for all my photography, but I originally started with a Pentax SLR camera. Whether you have a digital camera or film camera, it is vital that you know how to work the camera in full manual mode if you want to make the best of the opportunities you're given. Let's face it, there's no weather event that occurs that will look exactly the same through the lens again. Often you're faced with difficult contrasts when photographing the weather, strange lighting conditions and very large and distant subjects. Auto focus, auto white balance and a flash aren't going to be very useful in most situations when photographing the weather. So study your camera's manual and learn how to control your camera's manual features such as aperture (f-stop), shutter speed, focus, white balance, and light metering. You can then adjust your camera to suit the many unusual circumstances you may be faced with when out in the field getting photos.

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Reading your camera's user manual will pay off in the end

Hail is one hazard you need to avoid...

Or your windscreen may end up like this!

Photographing thunderstorms is realistically a pretty dangerous activity. Lightning has been known to jump up to 10km ahead of its parent storm cloud! So you need to be really switched on to the dangers of lightning when out photographing it. Try to choose a position in a relatively low area compared to its surrounds, and don't stand under a tree or near any large metal objects. Keep an eye on any cloud development near you - sometimes new storms can develop on top of you while you're watching a storm 10-15km away from you. Count the time between when you see lightning and hear thunder (for every 3 seconds you count, the sound has travelled around 1km) but remember that you are probably already at risk of being struck if you are within 10km from the main storm cloud. Also, give yourself plenty of time to get packed up and driving when a severe storm is approaching your location. Storms can move very quickly and you can get caught out if leaving too late. With a good knowledge of the weather and remaining switched on to the dangers, you can help reduce the risk when out capturing the dark side to nature.

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Often with weather photography, you want to incorporate mostly what's happening in the sky, as well as including some landscape to give the photo as much character as possible. One simple framing technique I use when doing this is to ensure the horizon DOES NOT sit in the middle of the photo. Try dividing your frame into thirds as shown on the right. Give around a 1/3 of the photo to the ground, and 2/3 to the sky, or 1/3 to the sky and 2/3 to the ground depending on what you are photographing. Splitting the photo 50/50 in my opinion takes away from what your main subject is. Also, try and frame the photo so that interesting objects in the photo fall near where the points intersect. In the photo to the right I've framed the scene so the tree is positioned near where those lines intersect. These simple framing techniques help to enhance the photos. But try experimenting. You may find other ways of framing that really bring the photo to life and make it something special. The weather often doesn't co-operate with the way you want to frame your picture, so sometimes you have to break the rules in order to document what's happening.

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Landscape makes up less than 1/3 of the photo

Try dividing your frame into thirds

Tree is off centre and near the intersection of lines

Incorporate landscape but not at the expense of capturing the storm

If you have the time, set your camera on a sturdy tripod that is heavy enough not to blow over in the wind, as this helps keep photos really sharp, especially in the low-light conditions around an approaching thunderstorm. Take a minute to look at the landscape and try to incorporate some of it into the photo. This makes the photo more interesting, but also helps give perspective of the scale of the storm. I always lock my camera's focus on infinity when taking storm photos as the auto focus often fails to lock onto the storm clouds. Just remember to turn it off when taking photos of hail in your hand after the storm has passed!

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Taking lightning photos is actually quite easy! It's having the camera pointed in the right direction that's hard! The first important step is to learn how to set your camera to bulb mode, or a manual mode where you can select a preset exposure time. As a general rule with zoom lenses, try and use a wider angle, as this often allows more light into the camera and will give better results. Obviously the closer you are to lightning, the less the need to zoom in and the better the results will be, but you are also in more danger of being struck, so don't be too obsessed with getting as close as possible to get bright, clear pictures. Watch the storm for a bit before taking photos to see where the bulk of the lightning is occurring, and point your camera in that direction once you have some idea. I can assure you that lightning will occur away from where you are pointing - It's frustrating but keep your camera in the same spot rather than trying to chase the lightning around. All too often I've moved my camera after seeing an amazing lightning bolt only to see another one where the camera was just pointing! ALWAYS use a sturdy tripod for lightning photos and invest in a shutter release cable to hold the shutter open when the camera is in bulb mode. This will reduce any camera shake that could blur the photo. If your camera has no shutter release cable, you may be able to select a pre-set exposure time (eg 16 seconds) and use the self timer function to give yourself time to move away from the camera when you press the shutter release button. This will also prevent camera shake from touching the camera. Finally, always be switched on to what's happening around you. If the storm is getting too close or new storms are developing overhead, get in the car. It is the safest place to be when near lightning. For more lightning photo tips, visit Michael Bath's Lightning Photography website.

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Use a wider angle to get brighter photos

Remain focused on an active part of the storm

Use a tripod and shutter release cable for blur-free photos

Enjoy the moment while you can!

One of the biggest things I get caught out with when photographing storms is that I spend so much time trying to get good photos that I don't really take in the spectacle of what's happening in front of me. So as a final suggestion, make sure you take in what you're witnessing. I've only stood in front of a small handful of very powerful storms - they don't come along all that often (thankfully for the locals in the area!). So take time to enjoy the show while it's there. Taking photos should be secondary to enjoying the moment.