We’re delighted to introduce Photo WX, our new weather service designed especially for photographers. You can now access weather maps designed especially for photographers, directly from the site.

Weather for Photographers

We all check the weather - it governs so much of our lives and outdoor pursuits. But outdoor photographers have a unique relationship to its effects on natural light and our personal safety and comfort.

We’ve spent the past year thinking through exactly what we’d want to see in a specialist photography weather service. The result is Photo WX. Here are a few things we think make it stand out:

• Sun, Moon and Weather: weather and natural light all in one place
• Clouds matter: multiple sources of multi-level cloud forecasts
• Smoke and Visibility: a critical concern for photographers, especially in recent years
• Night and Astro Photography: transparency, seeing and dew point depression forecasts
• Wind: photographers have a love/hate relationship with wind, trading off dynamic light with sharp images

Clouds and Light

It’s one thing knowing the path of the Sun and Moon over the landscape, but it’s another to know how they will be affected by clouds. To that end, Photo WX includes multi-level cloud maps that allow you see through layers of high cloud to understand what lies beneath.

Together with the altitude and azimuth of the Sun and Moon, you can read the forecast to predict natural light conditions or the effective visibility of the Moon.

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Uneven or shifting sunlight from the moving Sun or passing clouds can distract viewers and create an inconsistent look. Use The Photographer’s Ephemeris to check sunlight angles and our Photo WX service for cloud conditions. If lighting is unpredictable, use diffusing blinds and add fill light. Sidelighting or three-quarter lighting on the presenter adds depth, and keeping the light at a similar height avoids awkward shadows or an uplit look.

Forecasts for Night and Astro Photographers

We’ve included the Canadian Meteorological Centre’s astronomical forecasts of seeing and transparency, which cover the majority of North America. These, together with the smoke and visibility forecasts provided by HRRR and other models, give a great insight into observing conditions across the continent.

Additionally, the Dew Point Depression forecast, which gives the difference between air temperature and dew point temperature, is a reliable indicator of the potential for lens fogging when shooting at night.

Coverage and Availability

Photo WX includes a mix of global, regional and country focused models, so you’re guaranteed to find at least a couple of weather models that cover your location. If you’re in North America or Europe, the choice is wider. We offer HRRR, NAM, RAP and GEM Astro for North America, and the UK Met Office 2km model, plus Méteo France Arome HD and Arpege for Europe.

Selected weather variables are available without subscription for a subset of models. A Supporter subscription will open up access to higher-resolution forecasts and individual cloud layer data. PRO subscribers have an all access pass included your current subscription - it’s a ton of additional functionality and data included at no additional cost.

We’ll be working to further expand the offering over 2025, adding more weather models and forecast layers, and fine tuning capacity and performance of the new platform.

If there’s something you’d particularly like to see, let us know. We hope you enjoy using Photo WX - try it out today!