April and its showers are just around the corner for the northern hemisphere. They’re caused by the jet streams moving north during the spring.
Though it might rain, many still travel during April, and still want to photograph keep-sake images and create a photographic record of their travels despite the rain. Actually, the sky, before and during those April showers can be dramatic and enhance one’s photos, plus clouds, if not too heavy, can intensify sunrise and sunset photographs.
Of course, rain can also ruin our cameras, especially electronic digital cameras. It’s time to discuss taking photographs in bad weather.
Much of the time, if not most of the time, our travels take us to new locations, and sights, and permit us to interact with new people and their cultures. Most of the time, most travelers never return to locations a second time. They rarely see the same sights twice, and even if they do, often what was seen in the past, has changed or is no longer there. That means travelers must take their photographs “now,” not chance they’ll ever get another opportunity.
Travelers can’t let bad weather stop them from taking advantage of each and every travel photography opportunity. Rain or shine, they need to press forward and capture the sights and memories.
Rain can enhance some photographs. Even though skies can be gray, they are rarely a solid, uniform gray. More often than not, gray skies during rain are actually made of varying shades, from almost black to almost white.
Rainy conditions often include highly dramatic looking skies, can cause reflections via water laying on surfaces, and can paint objects with smooth surfaces having a glossy luster. Dramatic skies can produce stunning photographs especially at sunset with falling sun reflections producing incredible yellows and oranges. Mist and raindrops can alter the mood of a subject’s setting.
Here are a few tips for making photographs in the rain:
• Leave your umbrella at the hotel — You’ve only got two hands and you need them to hold your camera. A fellow traveler could protect you with an umbrella, but if it’s also windy, an umbrella is virtually useless anyway.
• Protect yourself from the rain — Soggy photographers are unhappy photographers. I travel with a Gortex rain jacket and pants. Taking boots while traveling is often difficult, so I usually wear Gortex sneaks while traveling.
• Don’t use your flash unless — If you’re able to get close to your main subject, a flash can be great, but otherwise a flash may merely illuminate the raindrops, producing a photograph with many white reflections rendering the photograph useless.
• Bring a small towel with you and a non-woven lens cloth — If your camera gets wet, you’ll want to wipe it down. Especially in windy conditions, despite your best efforts, rain can accumulate on the end of your lens, obscuring your photos. Use a non-woven lens cloth to dry and clean the lens.
• Protect your camera with it’s own raingear — There are literally dozens of products which can protect your camera from rain and permit you to operate your camera in all but the most extreme situations.
That’s my segue to discuss camera raingear.
If you have a Point & Shoot camera, there are a few rain capes or bags suitable to protect your camera. For example, Ewa-Marine has their D-SW double laminated PVC bag with an optical glass port through which your camera will shoot it’s photos. For Point & Shoot cameras, that’s the type of raingear you’ll need.
If you have a DSLR or SLR camera, there are dozens of raingear solutions, as it’s possible to leave the end of your lens uncovered, yet still protect your camera and lens from harm.
I recommend two particular raingear products for DSLR/SLR cameras. While there are others, (I’ve tried a dozen or so.) I will mention only one additional product. The other products either provide inferior protection or not enough value.
Aqua Tech produces a series of wonderful rain covers which protect camera/lenses extremely well and enable the photographer to handle the myriad of controls found on today’s DSLR/SLR cameras. While they are excellent, except for an inexpensive model I can’t recommend, they cost $230 or more, including the eyepiece.
I recommend the Vortex Storm Jacket, shown above on the left. It protects your camera well, though with zoom lenses it can be a little cumbersome to move the zoom in and out. It sometimes requires extra manipulation and/or a loosening of the elastic strap holding the Storm Jacket tightly to the end of the lens. The Storm Jacket’s best attribute is that it’s extremely lightweight and folds into its own very small sack. It will take up almost no room in your carry-on. I take the Storm Jacket on every trip, just in case. The Storm Jacket costs $55 or less, according to the model you need.
I also recommend the Kata E-702 GDC Elements Cover with E-704 GDC Extension Kit for longer lenses, shown on the right. This product is bulkier than the Storm Jacket, but it protects your camera/lens extremely well, and is easier to use than the Storm Jacket. When I’m expecting bad weather, I take the Kata with me. The Kata with extension kit costs $130 complete.
If you find yourself in a storm with extremely heavy rain and/or very strong winds, you can take photographs in it, but I don’t recommend using the products discussed above. There is solution, but it’s expensive and I only recommend its use if you already have it. Use an underwater housing to photograph in heavy storms. I take underwater photos, so have a housing. I wouldn’t consider the expense (generally a $1,000 or more for DSLR/SLRs) unless you’re doing underwater photography.
As the Youngbloods implore, “Don’t Let The Rain Get You Down.” Get out in the rain and make those photographs!
Ned Levi is a long time professional photographer with a passion for wildlife and travel photography. You can view some of Ned’s travel and other photos at NSL Photography or get more travel photography advice at the NSL Photography Blog.
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I’m not a great photographer, but I like to keep a photographic record of my trips. For excursions to rain forests closer to the equator, especially in rainy, (rainier-when-it’s-cheaper) season, I like to take a zip-front rain poncho. It’s so easy to whip on and cover everything, including my backpack, when a shower starts. I can still get to my camera and binoculars hanging around my neck. I do carry a light-weight umbrella, hanging from my fanny pack. In the rain forest, there is little wind. It especially helped on my trip to Costa Rica this past January. We had only two days of sun (arrival day and departure day) and appreciated the extra protection during unusually extended heavy downpours. (It was a wonderful trip, all the same.)
Hi Carrie,
Those ponchos can be great in rain, though for me, my pants always got soaked when I used them, so I got away from them.
I understand that the poncho protected your camera while around your neck, by having it rest underneath the poncho, but how did you protect your camera while you were taking your photos in the rain forest, and it was out in the open? That would be interesting to know.
By the way, Costa Rica is a favorite destination of mine, and the rain forests there are amazing. When last there, we took an aerial tram through the tree tops. It was great. It helped you get a real understanding of the ecosystem of rain forests.
Thanks for commenting.
Thanks for the info. I’ll be ordering a Storm Jacket before my next photo trip.
And thanks for understanding the “now-or-never” photo situation many of us nonprofessionals face. Over the years, I’ve read comments from pros who basically said, “If conditions aren’t perfect, don’t waste your film/memory. Come back later.” Not all of us can do that and, as you noted, even if we can return, things may have changed. Flowers bloom at slightly different times from year to year, that old barn might have been demolished, that beautiful view might now be obscured by condos, etc.