Rainy days can be so dreary but they can also provide some very cool effects when taking pictures. A few years ago I was in China and I awoke to one of the worst thunder storms I have ever heard in my entire life, partially accentuated by the fact that I was somewhere on or about the 50th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai. The noise of the thunder settled down by breakfast although the rain continued. This did not deter me and my family from going out and seeing Shanghai. We would later come to find that it rained so much that day it broke a 135 yr old record! Who knew? It didn't stop us from seeing this fabulous and beautiful city and I got some fabulous pictures to boot!
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| The rain pours down in buckets on this beautiful ornamental roof ornament. |
Capturing reflections in rain puddles is always a cool effect if you are lucky enough, plus it can't really be actively raining to catch that shot since the drops break up the reflectivity of the puddle. But there are a ton of other types of unique and interesting shots you can capture with rain. Rain creates certain surfaces like to shimmer and shine that might not ordinarily. Mists that creep over horizons are always fun to work with too. If it's raining hard enough or you work the right settings on your camera, you can capture the raindrops falling.
Shooting photos in the rain can be tricky especially if you don't have the right equipment, like a waterproof camera. However, there are ways around it which require absolutely no special camera equipment. When I was in China I had no choice but to use my regular Canon EOS 40D or not take pictures at all. That wasn't an option really, so I had a big umbrella, threw an extra towel in my bag so that I could keep my camera dry - and headed out the door!
Rain can help you capture a terrific moment since it tends to keep people indoors, areas that are beautiful but normally very crowded can become empty, thus setting up a perfect shot for you. This happened again when I was in Shanghai, you could easily imagine the areas I was shooting bustling with people and activity, but the rain scared everyone away.
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| French Quarter, Shanghai, China. From the looks of it on a nice day many people would normally be all over these streets with their beautiful outdoor cafes |
If you are lucky enough, depending where you are you may be able to take photos from underneath covered but open buildings, thus being able to protect your camera. However depending upon how moist it is outside - its' always good to wipe down the camera and lens with a dry towel and keep it in a dry bag as you move around in the rain until you get to another dry area or stops raining.
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| This Chinese Garden in Shanghai had many covered areas from which I could safely photograph things and keep dry |
One of the easiest ways, but can be somewhat limiting depending on where you are, is to shoot from inside of a car. I actually do this quite a bit since I love the effects raindrops on the window can make as I have used in a few of my photos. You can also simply roll down the window and that way get the same picture without the window. This is great for certain places but obviously not ideal for many. When traveling around seeing other countries or even in your own neighborhood some amazing scenery goes right by you and you can't always get out and take a picture. I decided not to let that stop me though and I started what I like to call my Drive-by Shooting Series. These are photos I take from the car, sometimes while in motion, sometimes not. Always safely though!
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| Drive-by Shooting: Winter Blue Waveny I shot this from my car as I was driving up the road approaching the park from the Lapham Road entrance |
Experimenting with photography is something I love to do. I love experimenting with my camera settings, experimenting with different filters and effects in programs like Adobe Photoshop. It's through experimentation from which we learn the most. Claude Bernard said "Observation is a passive science, experimentation an active science." People may view photographers simply as observers, but it's through experimentation which separate good photographers from great ones.
