Tom Watkinson's Excellent Weather Course for Photographers
Weather is such an important part of landscape photography, and there has been a real surge of great weather prediction websites and apps that photographers can use to predict great conditions, such as fiery sunsets, fog and snow cover. The tools available are amazing, but the real art in prediction lies in understanding the information provided, and in interpreting that information so you can watch out for the conditions you want.
British photographer Tom Watkinson has launched a great online course called Everything You Need To Know About The Weather to Take Amazing Photos. Clearly an enthusiastic weather nerd, Tom approaches this course in a really approachable, easy-to-understand way
The courses starts with an introduction to various apps and websites that Tom values in his approach. These include:
- Ventusky (or Windy.com)
- Clear Outside
- The Photographer's Ephemeris (or PhotoPills)
- Webcams
- British specific services, such as Mountain Weather Information Service
- Rain Today (UK / EU specific app)
He then proceeds to discuss the various weather phenomena photographers might be interested in, such as:
- Clouds
- Fiery skies
- Temperature (cloud) inversions
- Rainbows
- Alpen Glow & Belt of Venus
- Snow & Hail
Tom discusses these topics in a really down-to-earth manner, and provides great information about understanding all the data the various apps can provide. He also explains how the apps go about making predictions, and gives you greater knowledge so you can not only interpret the predictions, but also fine tune them based on local condiditons and patterns, as well as personal experience.
Each section includes a short knowledge quiz to test your understanding, and I really enjoyed the short On Location with a Landscape Photographer video in the Fiery Skies section. This provided a valuable way to see the application of the knowledge delivered in that segment.
The course is British-centric, so some of the apps and services may not apply in your part of the world. For example, in Australia I would use the Bureau of Meteorology site/app, WillyWeather and RainParrot. Similarly, some of information is also specific to Britain, such as the prevailing winds and seasonal conditions. However, the principles apply regardless, the course information remains valuable to landscape photographers everywhere.
I really recommend Everything You Need To Know About The Weather to Take Amazing Photos as a great course for any photographer, or outdoor enthusiast, who is keen to learn more about the weather and know how to they might be able to predict great conditions, and plan to make great images in them.