Why You Should Try Shooting in the Rain

A lot of us do not like the rain for one reason or another, whether it is the fact that we simply do not enjoy getting wet (that would be me) or because we want to protect the thousands of dollars we have invested in sometimes delicate equipment. Still, there is a lot to be gained by occasionally venturing into the rain with your camera, and this awesome video discusses why you might want to try it yourself. 

Coming to you from Simon Baxter, this thoughtful video discusses why you might want to consider shooting in the rain more often. We had a record amount of rain here in Cleveland this spring, and it rained virtually every single day for three straight months, making it extraordinarily difficult to get out and do any sort of photography in the traditional sense. I went a few weeks of not pulling my camera out of the bag before I started to get a bit antsy and just bit the bullet and went out shooting. Once I learned to embrace the conditions, I quickly found lots of unique shots afforded by them that I would never have dreamed of in nicer weather. Check out the video above for Baxter's full thoughts. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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7 Comments

Everything we need for our happiness is all around us.

Here in the Philippines, rainy season is half of the year so it will really limit you to shoot indoors, if you choose not to shoot in the rain. I love doing my street photowalks even in the rainy season :) There are a lot of interesting scenes out there when there's rainfall :)

Hum.... because you want an excuse for buying new gear ;) Jokes aside, I actually go out in the rain for pictures, but I find it more difficult to get something good out of it. I got a Nikonos which obviates teh wet camera worries, but that still doesn't chase water drops from the lens.

Usually rain means wind or at least a breeze, I use this with a long exposure of maybe 1/2 second, which causes the leaves on trees to "paint" patterns in the picture and almost takes on a Monetish quality, what I also like about rainy days is if you close your eyes and listen, the rain begins to sound like bacon frying on a griddle at least it does to me, maybe I'm weird but that's just me, I enjoyed watching this video, all I need now is a little rain.

I live in Belgium, here is a challenge to shoot without rain.

As long as you're well dressed for the rain, along with your gear, shooting in the rain can be very rewarding.

I live in Washington state. What, there's sunshine? How do I expose for that?