Most safari colour grading assumes golden light. Storm Light was built for the mornings that don’t cooperate — flat grey sky, rain moving in, everything under-lit and slightly blue. Rather than fighting that light to fake sunshine, this preset leans into it.
The Problem With Grading Overcast Light Like Golden Hour
Pushing warmth and contrast onto a flat-lit frame the way you would a sunset image tends to look muddy — there’s no actual warm light source to justify the colour shift, so it reads as an edit rather than a mood. Storm Light instead deepens the existing cool tones and adds contrast through shadow density, not colour temperature.
Where It Works Best
Storm-front backgrounds, wet-season green bush, and any sighting where the animal’s coat or feathers carry texture worth holding onto — the preset protects midtone detail rather than crushing it for punch. It was built and tested against real overcast-drive frames, not a single hero image, so it holds up across a full take, not just one.
Part of the Complete Collection
Storm Light ships as part of the full 14-preset pack, alongside Golden Hour Safari, Dust & Light, and the rest of the collection — see the Presets category for individual packs or the complete bundle. For how the golden-hour end of the pack was built, see Grading for African Light: Building the Golden Hour Safari Preset.