“Bad” weather? It doesn’t exist if you’re attuned to the vagaries of nature: then there are only “weather photo-ops”. Some of the best photos you ever take will only be great because of the rain, storm clouds, or wind. That’s why better cameras are weather sealed and the best camera bags include their own “raincoats”. Successful photographers need to be willing to deal with difficult circumstances that other photographers would normally avoid, and have the know-how to bring back the images. O.K. - the truth is that I struggle to get out of bed on cold mornings. Going out on cold days and nights, packing a brolly and a tripod, and heading off into the rain, fog and hail is not my idea of joy. I’d rather go set up some macros on the dining room table... but sadly there are images that won’t come inside - or so I hope!
Rain - It’s not just cold and wet. It is reflective. Think of reflections, highlights and the gleam of water droplets on plants. Swollen rivers where there used to be gutters, and people in raincoats, holding umbrellas or caught without them, splashing through puddles. Drenched people at the bus stop and bedraggled animals. You have to go out for that.
Dramatic skies and cloud formations and lightning bolts are waiting out there, too and so are brightly coloured umbrellas, children splashing in puddles and the sun waiting to to burst through the overcast sky in a classic light show.
Keep your equipment dry - Most equipment will take a bit of moisture, but the less the better! Umbrellas help, but they get in the way when it’s time to take a shot, and in the wind they are a menace. I have seen people slide the brolly handle in between their backpacks and their bodies to keep both hands free... don’t try it if there is even a breathe of wind! A simple plastic bag is more effective in keeping your camera dry and a lot cheaper than a customised waterproof cover. Make a couple of holes in the bag, one for the lens, the other for the viewfinder. At the lens opening, carefully tape the plastic around the lens hood; tape the plastic at the other hole to the edge of the viewfinder eyepiece.
Occasionally a disposable underwater camera will get you the shot if you really don’t want to risk your expensive gear. I keep one tucked away in my gadget bag all the time.
There is no reason you shouldn’t work from under the shelter of an awning, bus shelter, or tree, but your equipment is not likely to suffer any lasting damage just because you have got a few drops of rain on it.
Objects are different with a gleam of water on them, and at night, the lights of shops, houses, traffic signs and advertising take on wonderful vibrancy. Don’t neglect to look down: puddles and pools are rainy day mirrors for shops, statues and just about every other object. At night, add their reflections to the light trails of moving vehicles in a time exposure, and your trip out has paid handsomely.
You may be using longer exposure times so take a tripod or monopod with you. If you don't have one, improvise (check out my Intel on tripod alternative): use a wall, a bean bag, or steady the camera against a solid object. But don’t be surprised if the wet ground reflects more light into your photos than you expected; check your display if you have a digital camera, bracket if you are shooting film. For day-time rainy weather I usually underexpose by 2/3 stop to retain the sense of storm and gloom.
Raindrops are made more obvious with a shutter speed of 1/30 or 1/60 of a second or less while windy conditions require fast shutter speeds if you want to stop the action, but remember that slower shutter speeds can produce interesting wind effects too.
Fog -Think of fog as a huge soft-focus filter. It offers wonderful, moody images and painterly smears of colour. Look for the branch standing against the mist, the flat expanse of water, the figures of people shrouded in mist and the droplets on glass or foliage.
The only fog you don’t want is on your lens: keep it protected with a haze or UV filter, and take a dry, absorbent, non-scratch cloth in a plastic bag. Polarising filters can also help deal with glare, but the diffuse glow that fog gives to street lights (even in the day) and the otherworldly effects is what you want to capture, so don’t cancel it out with your filters.
Longer focal lengths intensity fog and can emphasise distant fog pockets. Remember to dry your gear from time to time with that soft, absorbent cloth you have in your sealed plastic bag(!)
Among the best times to have a camera in your hands are just before a storm and immediately after.The ragged or piled-up, unsettled skies that typically foreshadow a storm are a photographer’s treasure trove. then, as the storm clears, wet streets, the gradual resurgence of human activity and the possibility of a rainbow are further rewards for going out.
Condensation is a bigger problem than rain, and more insidious. Abrupt changes in temperature and humidity will fog the lens and viewfinder and worse, may lead moisture into the camera. Allow your equipment to acclimatise inside your camera bag, and keep sachets of silica gel in the bag to aid in keeping the air in your case dry.
Lightning - Lightning is one of the hardest things to capture in a photograph if you treat it as an object, like a building or a tree, and try to snap it as it appears. However, with a tripod and a piece of card, it is much easier.
If you can find a dry location to set up, with potential for lots of reflection, your pictures could be quite outstanding. You need a tripod. Focus on an area of lightning activity, place a piece of card or black cloth over the lens, then use the ‘B’ setting (‘T’ is even better if you have it) to open the shutter and keep it open. Each time a bolt of lightning flashes through the sky, whip the card away, then replace it when the flash finishes. When you have 2 or 3 good flashes recorded, release the shutter and repeat the process for the next strike. Use a small aperture (f[11 or f[22) with the camera on manual focus and set on infinity.
Snow Photography - Snow completely transforms landscapes and adds contrast to the colours of a scene, making unique and salable nature photos.
Light meters both hand-held and built in to cameras tend try to compensate for what they see as an over-bright exposure. This typically results in grey or blue snow. Most experienced photographers add at least 1 stop of overexpose to obtain a natural scene. Snow can also trick a camera’s automatic white balance sensor and your best options are to shoot RAW, adjusting the white balance later, take a trial shot and adjust the white balance if necessary, or switch to a snow setting if your camera provides one.
Storms - Some photographers have devoted their careers to hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, volcanoes and other extremes of nature. I am not one of them and the following advice in not based on experience.
Storm photography requires durable equipment and different techniques than we have been discussing. It is possible to use longer lenses and stay relatively far away from the storm, but storms are unpredictable. Be sure you have an escape route in case a storm changes direction!
Cameras can be set up on tripods in the anticipated path of a storm and operated by remote control or with a timing device. Even when well protected in purpose-built cases, or block-mounted on concrete, losses are not uncommon. A sense of adventure, a big budget and real safety consciousness are essential.
Closing Thoughts - Animals and birds do not have the luxury of taking a day off because of rain, and many good wildlife photographers capitalise on this; landscapes in less than “picture postcard” conditions offer a new view of a familiar world. Rarer and harder to capture photos tend to sell, so there is always a potential market for bad weather photographs if you are intrepid enough to go and get them.
