How to Turn Grey Skies Blue Without Photoshop

When shooting portraits outside, weather can put a serious damper on our end results. Luckily there are lots of workarounds to get the effect and background you’re looking for, including this trick from photographer David Bergman for transforming bleak, grey skies into beautiful blue ones:

Grey skies can leave the background of your photo looking flat and uninteresting.

dull grey sky portrait

Natural Light and Daylight White Balance

And if you live in a climate where it rains a lot, this could seriously affect your shoots. Luckily, Bergman’s workaround is pretty simple: adjust your camera’s white balance to tungsten. You’ll need to then light your subject with warmer light (using warm-colored gels on your flashes).

tungsten white balance setting

Tungsten White Balance without Flash

The tungsten setting adds a blue cast to the background, and the warmth of the gels normalize the light on the subject.

portrait with gels and flash

Tungsten White Balance and Gelled Flashes

Equipment Used

How to turn grey skies blue

Easy and effective.

Have any more workarounds you’d like to share?

Like This Article?

Don't Miss The Next One!

Join over 100,000 photographers of all experience levels who receive our free photography tips and articles to stay current:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *