I had three shoots over the last three days while San Diego delivered the worst July weather I've ever seen. When the forecast for 5pm says 80% overcast, I have to change up my approach a little. Check out the models:

July 7th: Paige Montgomery @ Mirian Bear Regional Park


July 8th: Leona Snell @ Mission Trails Regional Park


July 9th: Greta Proctor @ Torrey Pines State Reserve

These overcast conditions taught me a few things. There is a general agreement that a light cloud cover gives a softer ( more flattering ) light by cutting and diffusing the suns direct rays. My problem was that this was not a 'light overcast', this was a 'doom and gloom with chances of showers' kind of overcast.

Even though the sky appears evenly gray in all directions there is still a 'key light' direction where the sun is at the moment. When your model faces into this light the result is a flat, yet flattering soft and even look. When facing away from this 'key/sun' the light will appear to wrap around the sides of the model's face slightly, which is also a nice look. ( In the examples above, #1 is facing directly west into the key, #2 is turned 3/4 away from key, and #3 is with the key behind the model - notice the wrap in this one especially)

The biggest problem is filling in the dark eye sockets that result from there being so much overhead light. This can easily be solved with a little reflecting from below. Be careful not to fill more than the key or you'll get a weird, horror-type look. I found that having the model hold the bounce card herself allowed me to shoot with longer lenses and manually focus at apertures below f2, ( which I usually don't get to do because I'm holding my own bounce. )

An added bonus is the way this low bounce lights up the eye:


So don't be discouraged by overcast. In many ways it was easier to not have to fight the sun, but I do miss those backlit highlights.