Practical photography in rainy weather tips

Photographing on rainy days sounds like a quite bad idea, right? But do you know that rainy weather also presents good chances for us to take unique pictures that are completely different from the ones taken in good weather? Check out this article “Practical photography in rainy weather tips” to know about things to do to make rainy day photography so awesome.  

When it comes to photography, well, rainy weather seems to bring a sense of panic to many photographers. While a lot of photographers would choose to wait until it stops raining, this is not always possible, right? Sometimes, rainy days also present unique photo opportunities that might be a sense of moodiness to your photos, for example.

Rainy weather present great opportunities for amazing photos of the world awash in rain

As long as you have the best preparation and be careful while taking photos, rainy weather doesn’t necessarily mean something so bad. In contrast, it might be great opportunities for amazing photos of the world awash in rain. If you are new to photography in the rain, here are some practical photography in rainy weather tips and tricks that you should know. Keep reading on to know about them.

Be prepared

The first and foremost thing you need to do before going out and taking photos on a rainy day is to pack all necessary gears and carefully prepare for the shots. Even if it isn’t raining, you still need to prepare for unexpected showers, especially if it's forecasted to rain. Here’re the basic  things that you need to pack:

Photography in rainy weather tips: Do you think that the umbrella is also a good source of inspiration for your shots?

Umbrellas

Not only do umbrellas help keep you, your camera and other kinds of stuff stay dry, but they also might be a part of a good source of inspiration for your shots. If you plan to do rainy day photography, it is worth preparing a few decent and attractive umbrellas.

Brightly colored umbrellas with vibrant and fun patterns can give a touch of lovely color to a dreary day. But for weddings, it will probably be better if you stick with umbrellas with neutral colors black so it won’t take away from the subjects. That one of the first photography in rainy weather tips you should know.

Tripod

You will likely deal with low light conditions when photographing in rainy or stormy weather. And that requires slower shutter speeds. It’s necessary to use image stabilization or a tripod to stabilize your camera. In case a tripod is not available, you will need a flat, stable surface instead.

Camera tripod

Rain covers for cameras

Keeping your camera dry is a must no matter where and what you are shooting. It’s the next photography in rainy weather tips. 

There are a lot of rain covers for cameras or “camera raincoats” for sale on the market. But if you don’t want to invest your money on these things, or don’t need to worry about lugging another coat, consider having a plastic bag that has a hole for your lens.

Also, using a camera hood is a good way to protect the front part of your lens from getting wet. This will also help prevent pesky raindrops from affecting the quality of your pictures.

It’s always necessary to have camera rain gears that completely protect your camera against the rain and water. More importantly, you need to have them with you when it starts to rain, so it’s better to carry them regularly, especially if the weather forecast tells you that there’s a high chance of rain. Consider having the best weather app for photographers on your devices to update the weather forecast frequently. 

Rain covers for cameras or “camera raincoats”

Bags

Even if it stops raining, the ground will still be wet. Therefore, you should carry bags as they can keep your subjects totally dry if you like to photograph them sitting down. Well, these bags also keep you dry in case you want to sit down or get down low for unique angles.  

Moisture absorbent packets

The next things you should have in your camera bag before heading out to photograph in rainy and wet weather are moisture absorbent silica gel packets. They will help prevent condensation on your gear, especially if you are planning to be out in the damp for quite a long period of time. This photography in rainy weather tips is so simple but quite handy, right?

Others

There might be other things that you want to have with you during your rain day photography. For example, towels are also very necessary, and you should never forget to bring along some hand towels.

Of course, you should bring along whatever you find necessary and important for your photoshoot in rainy weather. But you also should not carry too many things. Remember to have things that are really necessary!

Photography in rainy weather tips: Tips for shooting in the rain

After having all the necessary things in your bag, it’s time for you to head out to get great pictures in rainy weather, right? Right below here are some basic techniques for shooting photos in the rain. Along with that are a few things you should avoid. Let’s check them out now.

Finding a location for the shoot

Of course, you need to find the location for the shoot before doing anything else. Based on the type and concept of photoshoot, you might have the option of changing locations. Well, you might want to park under a dry spot like a porsche, awning, or move indoors, … and wait for beautiful pictures to come to you.

Photography in rainy weather tips: Make the most of rain

Make the most of the rain

Even if you take pictures in rainy weather, most of the rain is not likely to show up or clearly visible in your pictures. You’ll just see the effects of it that might be droopy flowers, wet hair, mud puddles, and more.

But do you know that your picture may look more special and unique if you incorporate the rain into your compositions? Raindrops on fruit, leaves, and other surfaces can add a pretty dimension to the photography. 

Another photography in rainy weather tips here is that raindrops seem a lot more visible if they’re backlit, and falling raindrops are all amazingly photogenic. Besides, you can also keep an eye on something like puddles as they might provide you with interesting opportunities to photograph reflection. 

Watch and make use of the light

We all know that lighting is one of the most important factors in photography. While sunny days offer so strong and bright lighting, cloudy or overcast days present a great opportunity for us to look for soft and natural lighting which can create beautiful lighting effects for your compositions.

When you use things like umbrellas or overhangs, take time to watch out for shadow, adjust the lighting and your subjects as well to ensure the best effects for your compositions.

Photography in rainy weather tips: Choose the right shutter speed

The Shutter Speed

The shutter speed of your camera greatly determines the quality of your pictures. If you want to capture the images of raindrops as if they are frozen in space, you will need a quicker shutter speed. Photo editing tools cannot help with this.

For rain photography, the shutter speed of 1/250 second would be a good starting point. Anything shutter speed at or less than 1/125 second is not recommended for rain photography.

Adjust your aperture

The next photography in rainy weather tips is to adjust and choose the right aperture. Your compositions might look dark and gloomy if you choose to take pictures with a larger depth of field (a small aperture as well) in dark and overcast weather.

To let more light and somewhat bright mood into your shots, you may want to open up the aperture up to f/8, or f/4, or even higher for clearer light.

Shooting photos in dim natural settings

Flash

When shooting photos in dim natural settings, many of us will want to use flash so often. But, if everything you want is a blurry effect, then you might not need the flash at all.

• See also: Basic tips for taking great weather photos on hot, sunny days

Things to photograph on rainy days

There are a lot of things that you can photograph on rainy days and if you are looking for inspiration, here are some suggestions:

Shoot through drops of rainwater on windows

Raindrops on windows present a great opportunity for us to create interesting pictures. It’s also great because you don’t need to go outside and stand out under the rain to take the shots. Just being on the inside of the window is enough to take this type of photo. That's quite handy photography in rainy weather tips, right?

You can also photograph these shots after it stops raining and the droplets of rainwater still remain on the glass. The windows in your office, your home, in a coffee shop, or the windows of a car or a bus, … are all ideal for us to take pictures of raindrops.

Raindrops on window

Shoot puddle reflections

After the rain, there will be a lot of puddles that you can use to capture amazingly beautiful puddle reflection shots. Look out for puddles in sidewalks, potholes, parking lots, or even on outdoor tables, or other surfaces.

There are many different ways to shoot reflections in puddles but the first thing you should do is to look for puddles reflecting interesting objects from the surroundings. Experiment with various shooting angles until you find the best perspective to catch the reflection.

Photography in rainy weather tips: Shoot puddle reflections

Photograph splashing water

There are countless splashes to be found when it’s raining. Of course, they present good opportunities for us to capture beautiful pictures on rainy days.

You can capture the splash of raindrops when they hit a puddle or even photograph someone jumping into a rain puddle that all will be so great.

The photography in rainy weather tips you should keep in mind when capturing splashing water is to use fast shutter speeds to freeze the action or use slow speeds to blur the movement. Try experimenting with different shutter speeds to get the best results.

Keep an eye out for the rainbows

If you see that the sun begins to come out and moisture is still in the air, there’s a chance that you will be able to spot a rainbow. So, don’t forget to keep an eye out for the rainbows after the rain or even during the rain.

Rainbow after the rain

Others

Of course, there are so many, many other things you can photograph on rainy days though rain is not the best weather for photography. Sometimes, it isn’t necessary to capture the rain itself. You can photograph things indicating it’s raining such as people holding umbrellas walking on the street, the rain jacket, the puddles, and more.

Conclusion

Here are all practical photography in rainy weather tips that we want to introduce to you in this article. When you want to do photography on rainy days, never forget to have the best preparation before heading out. In the end, hope that all the tips and suggestions mentioned above were interesting and useful for you.

Sources:

contrastly.com/rain/

nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-tips/taking-photos-in-rain-richardson/

beachcamera.com/blog/helpful-tips-for-taking-photos-in-the-rain/

iphonephotographyschool.com/rain/