Weather conditions are a very important factor for outdoor folks. The weather influences how both wildlife and humans act. We all love those bright blue skies, fair temperatures and low winds. We depend on the weatherman for predictions. Wildlife seems to have a built-in system that tells them when it will be fair and when conditions are going to get nasty. If you have bird feeders, you will notice there is always increased activity at them just before bad weather moves in.
If you are a birder, then you want fair weather so that you are comfortable out there searching when the birds are active. Waterfowl hunters like bad weather as it not only gets the birds moving on their migrations, it gets them looking for protected areas to avoid the storm, especially high winds. Just taking a hike in the great outdoors is a great way to enjoy nature, but no one likes to do it in adverse weather. Muskrat and beaver trappers hope for cold conditions to freeze the waterways so they can get out in the marshes and set their traps. Deer hunters like ground-covering snow so they can more easily determine where the deer are moving and position themselves in a good spot to intercept them.
As a nature photographer I keep a close eye on weather conditions. Generally, I can “find” something of interest to capture in most weather conditions, but knowing the morning and evening conditions should strongly influence the timing of my travels. Well, I may as well be honest: I’ll grab the camera and head out no matter what the conditions are.
For some subject matter, I prefer overcast days, such as when I want to photograph flowers. I love doing flight shots of birds and for that I need bright sunlight for fast shutter speeds to “freeze” those wings — and I need to know the wind conditions. Recording those beautiful iridescent colors on hummingbirds and wood ducks also requires bright light.
Sunrises and sunsets are other favorite subject matters of mine, and both keep me guessing as I really never know when Mother Nature is going to give me a spectacular sky. In these cases I want to be out there before the sun comes up or just after it sets, as these times give the best chances of great color.
So we all check the weather predictions before planning our outdoor adventures. I always check my computer in the evening for the expected conditions in my area for the next morning and evening. We all do that, but it seems this method has not been working out very well lately. We have all headed out because the weatherman said it would be a great day, only to find out differently. More than once, the weatherman has told me there would be bright sunlight and when I got there, it was the opposite.
I have worked out a method that is much more predictable; years of “watching the skies” have proven it very reliable.
A good example of this was just last week, one morning, when the “weatherman” had informed me the prior evening would be heavily overcast starting at daybreak. I got up early anyway, checked the forecast again and found that it had not changed. But I was out of bed, and I had that “instinct” to head out, so I did. Boy, was that weatherman’s prediction off. It was cold but the sky looked like it might be bright with some possible color.
So I headed for one of my favorite sunrise areas and found magic was in the air! Right where the sun would be coming up, there was a bright orange “shaft” rising from the horizon high into the sky. It was a spectacular sight and a rare event to capture. Then, just off to the side of that “shaft” was the base of a rainbow! I was running around frantically, trying to get various interpretations of the event. Lucky for me, it lasted a long time and the camera was smoking. When the show was over, the sky was still basically open for quite some time and my attention turned to other subject matter, but eventually the clouds did move in.
My “weather method” worked perfectly while the weatherman’s was way off course.
This method has been honed over the years and works much of the time for me.
My secret, and I hope it works for you, is: just get out there, no matter what the prediction, and see for yourself.