Overcast equals great photography conditions

The photograph below is a Reddish Egret.

Reddish Egret with vampire wings.

ISO 640 | f/5 | 1/1250 | Manual Mode w/ evaluative metering 0 EV | AI servo focus

This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens with a 1.4x III Extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III, mounted on a Jobu Design Gimbal head, over the Manfrotto 190CX carbon fiber tripod, with flash and fresnel.

This Reddish Egret is standing still for a split second before launching to catch a fish. I really like the symmetry of the wings. When the weather is overcast, it is often leads to great photography opportunities. The bird seems to be drawn and stands out very well from the background. The secret is to overexpose in order to get the subject bright enough. The background will typically get overexposed while the subject is properly exposed, creating the dreamy ambiance. That type of photography is also called high key photography. I ran a bit of Detail Extractor from Color Efex Pro 4 plug-in of Nik Softwares for the image optimization. No background cleaning was needed.

The photograph below is a Galapagos Penguin.

Galapagos Penguin resting at Las Tintoreras, in the Galapagos Islands.

ISO 800 | f/6.3 | 1/500 | Manual Mode w/ evaluative metering 0 EV | AI servo focus

This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens, the Canon EOS 5D mark III handheld.

Another stunning example of high key photograph thanks to an overcast day! Note that the 600mm f/4 L IS II can reasonably be handheld thanks to its lighter weight and high performing Image Stabilizer.

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Steven