Photography | Bad Weather Photography | Rains

© 2006 Wazari Wazir | Le Tour de Langkawi 2006 | Kuala Lumpur

© 2006 Wazari Wazir | Le Tour de Langkawi 2006 | Kuala Lumpur

© 2006 Wazari Wazir | Le Tour de Langkawi 2006 | Kuala Lumpur

About the picture above, I really did not plan to shoot in the rain and not really ready for it, actually it was very good start, the weather was fine with clear blue sky on that day, the final stage of Le Tour de Langkawi 2006 in Kuala Lumpur but suddenly after few laps, unexpectedly downpour change everything. I think most photographers are not ready facing the rains because it was very hot in the beginning but this is Malaysian weather, when it rains it pour.

I kept on shooting because I like the condition, it have more drama into it, more feelings towards it and among the reason I continue to shoot despite the rains is because when it rains, you can play around with the reflections that coming from the street lights or from the vehicle.

The problem when bad weather happening which mostly will be dark, gloomy, overcast is that, it will have an affect to our exposure, we need more exposure in order to exposed the scene properly. Among few things that we can do to overcome this problem is by using Higher ISO like ISO 400 and above, the problem with entry level digital camera is that, when we increase the ISO, we also increase the noise or “grain” but sometimes it can be an ada advantage. The “noise” helps to add drama to the picture. Give it more character. But nowadays most entry level camera can perform greatly with at High ISO with less visible noise, unless you need to use ISO 6400 and above, that’s when normally the “noise” start to become apparent. I took that picture above in 2006 with Nikon D70s at ISO 400-800, so the noise is visible but I don’t have much choice at that time.

Having a telephoto lens really help here, so you can cover yourself and your camera from the rain by shooting under the awning of the shops or maybe just take the shot from a bus stop where you can keep yourself and your camera dry. This is for those unprepared but if you really wanted to shoot during the rains, just bring an umbrella with you and if possible bring plastic bag to cover your camera, this is the cheapest way, there is also professional rain cover for DSLR, it is quite an expensive but it is  a must have item if you like to shoot in the rains or if you are sports photographer who shoot n good weather or bad weather, it is good investment and can be considered as must have item, the cheapest way is off course to use simple plastic bag and wrap around your camera body and just poke a hole for your lens to focus and don’t forget your lens hood, to prevent the water to mess around in front of your lens.

Just be creative, don’t just pack your camera gear when bad weather happens, there is a lot of great photography opportunity if we can see it from different perspective, be creative, it is not easy or uncomfortable shooting in the rains but that’s is where great pictures usually happen,  if you continue to keep on shooting, you might get some great shots.

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