May30
Rain Photos
Rainy days and Mondays always get me excited. Well, okay, maybe just rainy days.
Rain can be a wonderful gift for a photographer looking to make moody images. But rain photos are also logistically tricky. Here are a few ideas to help make the most out of a rainy situation:
1. Consider shooting from inside your car. That’s how the image above was made. I shot it with a 70-200mm lens from a parked car with the rain drops settled right on the windshield. The catch? I softened the focus somewhat to achieve the effect I wanted. Remember: if you shoot through rain-covered glass, focus is optional. 
2. Protect your camera. It goes without saying, but be careful. Seldom is one shot worth the price of your favorite camera and lens!
3. Use a dark umbrella. Lighter umbrellas can reflect unwanted light into a scene.
4. Slow your shutter speed. Rain moves fast! You can, at times, achieve the right motion-blur for rain while shooting even as fast as 1/60th of a second.
5. Try a reflector. Back-lighting rain drops as they fall can add a lot of impact to an image. By using a reflector rather than a flash, you can preserve the motion-blur. This can add just the right touch of light to a scene, although it obviously doesn’t work for larger scenes.
6. Consider black and white. Rain, by its very nature, can be very moody. Shooting in black and white can heighten the mood.
7. Look for reflections. If there is one thing water does well, it reflects light. The resulting puddles in a rainy scene can offer some dramatic compositions.
8. Seek out color. The great thing about rain - and this is particularly true in landscape photography - is how richly it saturates the land with color. Strong colors with vivid contrasts can be especially powerful in a rainy scene.
9. Use a polarizer. You may not want to do this if you are concentrating on a reflection, but a polarizing filter can greatly reduce the amount of reflectivity in a scene. This can further enhance colors and eliminate distracting reflections in a scene. Oh - and a common misconception: Yes, polarizing filters are just as useful on digital cameras as they were on film cameras. While it’s true that post-production software like Photoshop can help color saturation in an image, no amount of digital image editing can rid an image of reflected light spanning through an image.
10. Use a fast lens. Shooting in rain automatically means shooting under clouds - and clouds make it darker (I know, I know, I’m incredibly insightful). A lens with a wider maximum aperture will give you a lot more flexibility in shooting. This does not mean it’s always preferable to shoot at the maximum aperture - but with the right lens, you will at least have more options.
Bonus tip: move to Washington, D.C. Sometimes I think it never stops raining here!
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Brian Auer May 30th 2007 at 12:57 pm 1
Good tips, and a nice offbeat subject. I like the tip about shooting through glass. Not every photo needs to be clear of obstructions — use it to your advantage. I know what I’ll be doing during the next rain storm, I’ll be camped out in my truck taking pictures through the glass!
Christopher Scholl May 30th 2007 at 01:21 pm 2
Sounds like a great idea!
Taking Rain Photos at Imaging Insider May 30th 2007 at 02:47 pm 3
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Brett Robson Jun 19th 2007 at 04:01 am 4
Hey
Thank you for the inspiration, there has been many a day when its been raining and have decided to stay indoors with a good book or movie and have a nice hot cup of soup …… next time I will get out with my trusty Canon EOS-1D and my 24-70mm 2.8 and take some rainy day photos …..
Christopher Scholl Jun 19th 2007 at 08:33 am 5
Sounds like a good idea, Brett. Let me know how it works!
Jessica Nov 9th 2007 at 05:00 pm 6
I think u do wonderful things by making the most out of a rainy day and taking pictures……I never knew taking pictures of rain could be so amazing…..I think i will try it the next time it rains. I’m a photographer myself and i have seen and taken many pictures but i have never seen or even thought of taken pictures of rain.
P.S. you have inspired me, thanks!!!
Christopher Scholl Nov 18th 2007 at 05:39 pm 7
I’m glad to have helped, Jessica! Thanks.
Weekly Inspiration « EtsyAtlanta’s Weblog Nov 26th 2007 at 11:45 am 8
[…] http://photographersjourney.com/2007/05/30/rain-photos/ […]
cup beans Jan 25th 2008 at 05:46 am 9
Thanks for the tips, rainy days are amazing in many aspects but I was never able to take good pictures, so I really appreciate the help.
English coast Mar 24th 2008 at 02:29 pm 10
Thanks for the tips!
In darker conditions, consider increasing the ISO setting. You risk blur with camera shake when using long lenses in dark conditions and although you will introduce noise with higher ISO values, sharpness is always the first concern.
Brett Robson Mar 27th 2008 at 09:58 pm 11
Blur will come if your using long shutter speeds, ie anything below 60th sec …if you keep your ISO below 800 then you shoud not introduce grain to the image
Sharpness is always a concern but that can be controlled by your aperture, the higher the apeture, the more that will be in focus and sharp, try shooting a face at F/2.8 and focus on the nose, the nose will be sharp but the ears or even the eyes will be soft …shoot the same at F/5.6 or if in a studio shoot at F/11 and you will find over all sharpness.
Shooting in the rain allows for experimentation, ISO would be 400 to 800 (1600 is were you get grain less you have a Nikon Camera ie a D3 i think) shutter speeds can be slow or fast it depends on the desired effects. Aperture would be around F/4 to F5.6 however at the end of the day its your photo and we all could shoot the exact same scene but each image would be different in its own fashion
Since I wrote my last comment here alot has changed, I now work in the photography industry and work more with model and fashion photography however love to get out side of this and deal with the “elements of nature”
Regards
Brett Robson
http://www.flickr.com/brettrobsonphotography