This is something every photographer should try at least once.
Personally I love rain and storms – especially thunderstorms. There’s a special kind of light when the dark clouds take over the sun. This is what professional photographer Art Wolfe says about shooting in the rain over at Popular Photography.
Shoot in a Downpour
Wolfe captured a herd of impala in the Lake Nakuru Region, Kenya, from inside a rented vehicle, using a 600mm telephoto lens. “It was absolutely a downpour,” he recalls. But he didn’t let that stop him from shooting. In this case, the photographer stayed inside his Land Rover and chose his vantage point carefully.
If you’re photographing from a car in rain, he recommends parking it at an angle that will prevent the storm from blowing into the open window and damaging your equipment. It also helps to know the behaviors of your subjects. “The rain was so heavy,” he says, “that the animals stopped and stood facing away from it. The impala just stopped moving, because in that type of rain, they assume that the rainstorm will be over in 20 minutes. It’s not worth moving during that time into uncertain territory when they have marginal visibility. There could be lions waiting for them. They just waited out the rain, and I was able to position myself and get that shot.”
Catch a Flash
“With lightning, there are two ways you can go about it,” Wolfe says. “One way is to get a device [i.e light-activated shutter trigger] that you attach to your camera that senses an impending strike, and it virtually opens the camera up so you catch the lightning. I’ve never used it,” he adds with a chuckle, “but I’ve heard it’s pretty effective. I do it the old-fashioned way: guesswork.”
For the photo shown here, taken in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas, Wolfe explains, “The lightning storm was at dusk; there was some ambient light so you could see the landscape, and I could obtain a 10-second exposure. In those 10 seconds, if you’re lucky, the strike happens. And if you’re not, you just trigger another exposure—it’s like casting a net to catch fish.” Getting a great lightning shot often requires patience and taking many long exposures. Aim to capture lighting at night, Wolfe recommends, “so you can leave the exposure open for minutes at a time. Use a wide-open aperture such as f/2.8, and a cable release, with the camera pre-focused. If it gets totally dark, just focus on infinity. It’s pretty easy—but you also have to get lucky.”
Click on the video below for 5 more rain photography tips.
Read more tips from Art Wolfe over at Popular Photography.
Source: Popular Photography
