How To Make A Rain Machine For Video Or Stills

Jay P. Morgan is at it again with his super informative, large production, BTSVs. Check out the video below where Jay shows us how to make a rain machine for a photo or video shoot. I never thought I would ever make one of these but after seeing this video it actually doesn't seem that hard.


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Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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11 Comments

Ok, that's what I call a REAL behind the scene... Very informative, it shows you exactly the way they proceeed, WHAT A GREAT VIDEO!!

I'm with you. I wish all BTSVs could be this good. It would make my job a lot easier :)

Glad they addressed the lighting issue, I can't tell you how often I see photos of rain with bright backgrounds. I mean, sun showers don't happen that often.

Excellent video, i love the very descriptive nature of this BTS. Rain has been on my to-do list for a while now (if winter can simply end...) and this video is perfect!

One comment on the video... music is too loud, sometimes i can barely hear the comments.

Cheers,

Why was the diffusion sock on the dish under the grid? That was interesting, with my alienbees it's either one or the other. Also doesn't the big white panel in front of the dish negate the grid's purpose? What do you guys think?

Serge, I'm with you. Seems to me that the grid and scrim do opposite things to the light. Maybe he wanted a softer source than the gridded dish alone could give, and with the scrim it didn't scatter as much as BD without the grid.
Or, like McNally shooting outside with a stofen on his speedlight--he just always does it, and there wasn't necessarily a choice made in that detail.

Agreed. Great vid, very informative.
Serge, I agree. I was wondering about the white panel-grid combo. I'm guessing soft light was more important then a completely directional light. He probably tried it and it looked good so he kept it...

I wonder why he put a scrim in front of the beauty dish? Interesting, The shoot through scrim is now acting as a large softbox, so why grid the beauty dish?

Check-this-out: http://fstoppersforum.com/showthread.php?333-rain-pictures-%28-how-can-i... I described how to make rain using PVC pipe or a Fan Head. But everyone seemed to convinced it was PhotoShop.

@Tim Woodard, Several things. He used the Sock to improve the output of the BD. He used the Grid to narrow the spread of the BD, Notice he is only lighting the Top of the Panel, without the Grid he would have lit more. Seems like he only wants to fill the upper part of the body.
Lighting is as much art as it is science. Sometimes you do things that many people don't really see, but it adds to the effect you are creating. Learning to see light is important, but it is a skill many photographers haven't learned.

Thanks for sharing guys! This is one of the best BTSV I have seen.