Photographing in Poor Weather

100% Crop to show rain

       Photographing in the rain can yield some exciting results, but are they worth the scare? In my mind there is no doubt. The most important element of poor weather photography is being prepared with proper camera protection and clothing.

      I use a plastic bag designed for SLR cameras that will fit up to a 400mm prime lens, or a 70-200mm lens. I find this to be the fastest, most practical and price efficient way to protect my camera gear.

      So, why might one shoot in poor weather or during a downpour? Weather tends to add a level of drama to any scene, especially if it is a looming storm cloud in the distance firing off strikes of lightning or massive waves crashing on shore. Weather can be used to add subtle drama as well. The photograph above uses rain and overcast to create a mood of tranquility. As well as adding a subtle mood, rain also helped increase saturation due to the wet foliage.

       I decided to use a slower shutter speed to give the scene a touch of texture and movement, yet fast enough for the viewer to see how much rain was falling during the capture. By shooting with a 400mm lens I was able to flatten space and 'stack' the falling rain, making it seem like it was raining even harder. The overcast conditions helped because it reduced the scenes dynamic range, making it possible to easily capture all shadows and highlights in a single exposure.

       Any additional questions, comments and concerns can be sent to me at jbphotography2@yahoo.com.

Canon 7D, Canon 400 f5.6L, ISO 100, F/8, 1/30th of a second. 10 Shot panorama with camera in the vertical orientation.