All landscape photographers love shooting at Golden Hour when the sky is usually filled with amazing colors. But what should you do when the sky is covered with “boring” thick clouds, or you have to shoot at other times of day?

In today’s tutorial from the WalksOnTheWildSide YouTube channel, you’ll learn a few tricks to transform those dull skies into interesting and beautiful photographs that don’t rely upon vivid colors for maximum impact. It certainly doesn’t help that this behind-the-scenes episode was shot at Scotland’s picturesque Loch Lomond, but the techniques revealed will work wonders wherever you happen to be.

Instructor Scott Walker is a British pro with a portfolio of amazing landscape and macro images with a unique look—much of them relying upon soft, muted colors for their appeal. He often shoots in less-than-ideal light, and in this episode he shares his favorite techniques for capturing epic images in ho-hum light.

Walker covers a variety of topics in 16 minutes—everything from adjusting exposure and contrast to using filters and more, so you don’t have to “over-rely on the Golden hours of sunrise and sunset to shoot beautiful landscape photographs.”

As he scrutinizes what initially appeared to be uninspiring scene, you’ll see how Walker comes up with an interesting composition—taking advantage of low-hanging clouds with hills in the background, and a rock formation just offshore from the camera position. He then employs two ND filters to permit a 30-second exposure that totally smooths out the water in the Loch.

Walker discusses taking a minimalist approach on drab days like this and describes how an overexposed “high-key” technique can result in special images. He then demonstrates the opposite method, by intentionally underexposing photos for a foreboding “low-key” effect. Either way, the results he achieves prove that “boring light” can be your friend.

Along the way you’ll pick up more tips on camera settings, and composition to make the most of what Mother Nature has to offer. You’ll also see how Walker frames a scene in a way that cuts out the clouds altogether.

By following Walker’s advice, you may find that the images you make have as much or more impact than the more typical photos captured with gorgeous Golden Hour Light. For more tips like this just pay a visit to his instructional YouTube channel.

We also suggest you watch the tutorial we posted from another accomplished pro, explaining why he insists, “don’t shoot at ISO 100.”

Have you ever looked at a photograph that really “worked,” but you weren’t sure why you found it so compelling? There’s a good chance that the image owes its mysterious impact to the use of complimentary colors. If you’re unsure what that means, the tutorial below will get you up to speed in barely six minutes.

German landscape photographer Rainer Hoffman is also an author and a popular educator whose instructional videos often demystify common imaging concepts through the use of concise explanations and supporting graphics. Today’s episode follows that approach, so you’ll have a firm grasp of complimentary colors and understand how to use them to make photos that demand attention.

Hoffman begins the lesson with a definition that different slightly from others you’ll find: “Complementary color are pair of colors which, when combined or mixed in equal amounts, cancel each other out (lose hue) by producing a grayscale color like white or black.” What that means for your photography is this: When objects with complementary colors are placed next to each other in a composition, they create a very intense color contrast that will add interest to the shot.

Some folks refer to complimentary colors as “opposite colors.” Hoffman explains why, using a color wheel with the three primary colors of the “additive color system” (red, green, and blue), along with the three primary colors of the “subtractive color system” (cyan, magenta, and yellow).

So, now, it’s easy to under what Hoffman means when he says, “Complementary colors are those colors that are located at opposite sides of the color wheel. In other words, yellow/blue, green/magenta, and red/cyan. Makes sense, right? As an aside, that’s why image-editing programs have Color Balance sliders with these combinations of colors.

Obviously, in real life we don’t often find objects with one of the six primary colors at maximum saturation (as in the color wheel). Instead, says Hoffman, “there are an infinite number of hues in between the primaries, and different saturations levels.”

It’s important to note, when applying this concept to shooting photos, that “all colors that are opposite of one another on the “infinite color wheel” Hoffman provides are complementary—even if there’re not primary colors.” Nor do they have to be fully saturated.

After providing all this theory, Hoffman then explains what this means in practice when shooting out in the field. You can find more lessons like this by visiting his popular YouTube channel, and by watching the three-minute primer we posted that explains how a camera’s histogram will help you nail exposure every time.