How to Take Good Photos in Bad Light

95% of the time, the sky is not going to have classic "good light." Sunset and sunrise don't last long, and even then they're not always right for photography. That's why it's so critical to know how to take good photos, even in bad light!
I adventured through Florida's notoriously ever-changing weather to talk about doing photography on an overcast day, in midday sun, and in the pouring rain. Just a little behind-the-scenes info - finding a good rainstorm for this video was actually super difficult!
To find the rain, I consulted my weather app constantly, drove two hours away, waited all morning and afternoon, and FINALLY ended up in the massive rainstorm you see in the video! It only lasted about fifteen minutes, and it almost killed my microphone, so I'm super glad I was able to bring back some footage.
All of the lighting conditions I talk about in this video are sure to happen at some point in your journey as a photographer, so it helps to be prepared and know what to do. Sunset and sunrise can be beautiful, but really the "best light" in photography is whatever works the best for your particular subject. If you keep that in mind, you'll be able to take some amazing photos.
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This video is not sponsored! You can support Photography Life and Spencer Cox Photography by buying anything through my affiliate links!
Here is all the photo equipment I use: bhpho.to/3XUv32a
And here’s my video gear to film this video: bhpho.to/3Yt8th1
#Photography #PhotographyTips #Light

[@bigblindray]

Been spending a considerable amount of time watching KZbin videos on Photography and you sir have something really special going on. I hope you continue to keep putting out more video content.

[@garymorrow9324]

I wish you made videos every week or so. The delivery is so good and informative.

[@TheNaturalAngle]

Even I do wildlife photography in India and would love to share your videos, in my language. Hope I can.

[@Tony-Elliott]

Another great video spencer, love the lighthearted style

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thanks, Anthony! I had fun filming it, even the stormchasing expedition.

[@leaudi7303]

GREATFUL FOR YOUR CONTENT - 50 photographs words article really helped me! Your rock!!! 🌍🌏⛅️🌨☀️☀️

[@666hobart]

Damn man, you're all over the place where are you based? And where did you take the shot of the unicorn you added to the spectacular B&W ocean shot? FL I presume with all the palm "leaves".

[@vikassaraf3122]

So u are Spencer and he is Spence?? Smh Great video again man🖤. Enjoyed and learned at the same time!!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Yes exactly. It’s just a coincidence. Don’t think about it too much.

[@beatrizmolinares8619]

Gracias. Muy bueno

[@anindaguha3979]

Can I have the list all your videos?

[@tamashaasz]

Congrats Spencer! Nailed it again 😏 Subject, timing, style just perfect! Worst light is no light at all. (Unless you make some..)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Tamas! And that’s an important point, artificial light is always an option for some genres of photography. I light a lot of my macro photos entirely with a flash, so the natural light ends up being irrelevant.

[@andy_an_outdoors_guy]

I really like the advice about going out in foul weather - the transitions times / breaks in weather can be remarkable. Also - I've found it improves the chances greatly for some outdoor solitude :)

[@michaelhawkins1173]

What people suffer for their art is amazing. Well done and thank you all good and very helpful.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Michael! Glad it could be helpful and worth filming out in those conditions.

[@ambrosechiu2338]

very true

[@joyceyang6976]

Thanks Spencer, a very informative and entertaining video! Loved it! 👍😆

[@danielthiema6934]

Just stumbled into this channel via the "macro lightning" video tutorial and totally loved the style but also the content. Great job. Very refreshing and informative.

[@ktoday3219]

Very instructive -& good humor. I appreciate you a lot guys. Keep it going & thanx

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Glad you like it. Not the easiest video I’ve ever filmed, but fun!

[@Acadien56]

I loved all your photos!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you very much, Jean!

[@joeelipo]

Every time it is cloudy I get the best close up pictures and best video recording of the birds .

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Same here, I love macro photography on a cloudy day. Especially after it rains, with water droplets everywhere.

[@M.Oksanen]

I have been reading your tutorials from the website and just found this KZbin channel. I really like your content. Perfect pacing and no bullshit. Tons of really useful information. Thanks man!

[@qwe1231]

Spence is cool, brah.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

He doesn’t give off warm fuzzy vibes, but he’s actually a good guy.

[@MichelleRenee-ui5th]

I really needed this video. I was just hired to photograph a wedding. It is my first professional gig , and I'm having to learn how to use the lady's camera. Talk about pressure ! Plus, the wedding will be in a Church and the reception in a veterans hall, where the lighting is almost guaranteed to be minimal and maybe not optimal. This really helped reframe the way I've been feeling about it and has eased my anxiety. Thank you for reminding me that they hired me because they trust my vision behind the camera. Your content is incredibly helpful! 🙏

[@heybella2867]

Do you have tips for shooting indoor with not great lighting but you don’t want to turn your iso up too high? Or do I just need to invest in a lower aperture lens and better light sources:(

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

A tripod or a flash are the easiest ways to get good looking photos in low light, but I don’t know how practical those would be in your case. You may not need to buy an expensive flash either - simply bouncing a cheap flash off the ceiling or wall can give very good quality light without much expense. But if none of that is an option, and you’re shooting handheld, it’s just about finding the right shutter/aperture/ISO balance. You can improve things a bit by practicing your handholding technique, or trying to stabilize your camera by leaning on a wall. But at a certain point, raising ISO is the only remaining option, annoying as it is.

[@tyrajohnson4537]

Hey Spencer, Love the video. Keep up the good work 👍🏽 I see why you love what you do… Disney world AllStar Movie Resort lol

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thanks Tyra, and it was great to meet you! I hope the rest of your trip went well 😄

[@tyrajohnson4537]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel We had a great time Thanks 😊 I hope you enjoyed yourself as well… You’re in one of my videos that I took outside the resort lol Enjoy your evening

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

@@tyrajohnson4537 Awesome, and you too!

[@Kyle_Hubbard]

Spencer: " A beautiful landscape and a crazy dramatic light overhead. What can you do if you have a really dull sky overhead?" Me: A massive flash.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That, I would like to try.

[@SniperPhotography]

Another well put together video. Thank you

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing! Glad to hear it.

[@zygmuntziokowski7877]

When it rain, it pours. I like taking pictures of the sunset or sunrise when there are some clouds in the sky to get that special effect, but you have to wait and be patience. You never know how it turns out. The other day, it was cloudy most of the days and started clearing up before sunset, but when sunset occurred there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Not what I wanted for looking, but I took the photo any way.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

I've had days like that, too. The clouds look promising at noon, they vanish at sunset, and they're back just in time to block the Milky Way that night! But you hit the nail on the head. The important thing is just to be out there in the first place. You may not get any photos, but you definitely won't if you stayed home.

[@bogerro]

Hahaha really enjoying this new vibe you're giving to your channel man! Congrats!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Sergio! I’m still experimenting a bit, but I’ve gotten good feedback on this style so far, so we’ll see where it goes. I may still drop a few standard tutorials from time to time just to keep people on their toes.

[@kristiankaraneshev7528]

Whats better than a photography related video from Spencer, having 2 Spencers :D

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

This will be so useful next time I need a camera crew. Unlimited Spencers!

[@Jakiyyyyy]

I like to say that light is the most important thing here because you can have amazing cameras, amazing equipment but if you have a bad lighting setup, bad lighting conditions, you will have a bad quality footage, but if you have medium quality cameras or bad cameras with some bad lenses but amazing lighting setup, you will still have pretty pretty good footage so you always want to have best of both worlds but light is pretty important.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

I agree! If a photo doesn’t have the right light, it loses a lot of power.

[@silviasanchez648]

That was a really cool video! Something I do sometimes with pictures that have not-so-good light is saving them for later, and making a painting out of them. On paper, I can change the light and colour :-)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Now THAT is awesome.

[@silviasanchez648]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Oh, thank you!

[@frankf9233]

Spence! Fun one to watch man

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Frank! Glad you thought so.