Originally posted by Bui
Now, coming back from home, the question is, what can we do to make the most of of those photos?
What would you normally do with cloudy and rainy photo (unplanned) that look so uninspiring?
Edit: okay, so I'll take one photo taken at Notre Dame, my favourite place in Paris, with a lot of cloud. I really want to learn how to improve photo like this (if there is a way).
I've taken the liberty of using your shared photo to show:
a) Your original
b) Processed with Nik Collection's Viveza2
c) Processed with Nik Collection's Silver EFX Pro2
I didn't go for subtly, just to show the dramatic extremes of how far you can go, especially if your originals were shot RAW. It's the quick and easy route. With a lot of patience and trial and error, you could use Photoshop to improve crop, curves or levels, dodge & burn, selective color, and then sharpening.
In terms of shooting, if I don't like the rain and sky, I shoot the puddles and streets. I shoot more at night where the sky is not a factor but wet pavement looks great. And like others have mentioned, high contrast sunny days are problematic for dynamic range with highlights and shadows. People look wonderful in soft overcast light. Plants or flowers will also benefit.
PS. If you don't want your Notre Dame shot posted, please let me know and I'll remove them. Personally, I think you have a good original to work with. Often we are disappointed because what we wanted to "take" wasn't there. Instead, we should embrace what we are "given".