When’s the best time to take good photos? What’s the best weather to take your camera out in? A sunny day? Nope.

Sunny days are lovely, but they don’t always give you the best results. Landscape photographs love the drama of unsettled weather — the skies can be absolutely fantastic.

Sunshine and Showers – Hurrah!

There is an old saying amongst landscape photographers; whenever you see a weather forecast which predicts sunshine and showers — head for the hills. You often have to work quickly in this light, often trusting the camera’s exposure and then processing carefully at home. But the results are worth it. Here are some examples.

f8, 1/320 second, ISO 200

This shropshire photograph is really all about the rainbow. You can see the hills — there is the Caradoc ridge in the distance — but the rainbow makes it. Rainbows appear very suddenly, so always be ready to shoot.

f9, 1/200 second, ISO 200

This is one of my most popular photos on Flickr. It is very simple really. The composition succeeds because of two factors. Firstly, the photo follows the curve of the stream. Secondly, the weather conditions work wonders.

This was taken in Snowdonia during some horrible weather. I was walking the ridge from Y Garn to Elidr Fawr when torrential rain and stinking hail got to me. I made a descent down towards Nant Perris. Just as I was leaving the high ground behind me I saw the sun beginning to spring out from behind the clouds. I turned around and got just enough time to take one shot.

This fleeting glimpse of sunshine not only added drama to the sky but it picked out a lot of the colour, and detail, on the ground. This photo follows a very basic attempt at processing in Photoshop. I’ve a much better version that hangs on a wall at home. But if the sun hadn’t have broken through, albeit momentarily, this wouldn’t have created any interest at all!

Here’s another very simple composition from Snowdonia. The sun picks out the detail in this winter tree, amplifies natural colour and makes the sky dramatic.

So, Sun is not always good. But sunshine and showers — magic!