Foul Weather Photography
Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 6:19 pm
Over on the Foliage Forum, the second annual "reunion" went on today. When scheduled, and leading up to it, there was a fair amount of enthusiasm and it sounded like it would be widely attended.
As Mother Nature made her plans more firm, the enthusiasm waned. Last I read, the group had winnowed itself down to 4 or 5 participants.
In the meantime, a fair amount of conversation, hand-wringing, etc. went back and forth. It reminded me of my last "rainout" outing -- a fall foliage "workshop" in Michigan's U.P. in October, 2004. My buddy and I drove up Thursday afternoon to a beautiful, sunny day. We went to an area new to me, with plans to photograph a waterfall and a light house early the next morning. We woke to a full scale rainout. I have shots showing the water droplets on my lens as distortion on the falls. Saturday at Tahquamenon Falls, we had similar conditions. In spite of this, I was able to capture what I felt were some"keepers."
All of this has gotten me thinking: We all like to talk about our cameras, lenses, tripods, gps units, etc. But what kind of foul weather gear do you carry?
In my "trip" checklist, I have a whole section devoted to this:
- A rain Poncho (works well because it will cover so much more than just you, including the camera, tripod setup, etc.
- a wide-brimmed, waterproof hat
- rain pants
- garbage bags (large and kitchen)
- I have a rain hood designed for my zoom lens and camera body -- expensive, but good insurance
- towels!
- warm hat and gloves (I carry a pair of the fingerless type)
- waterproof, warm footwear
As Mother Nature made her plans more firm, the enthusiasm waned. Last I read, the group had winnowed itself down to 4 or 5 participants.
In the meantime, a fair amount of conversation, hand-wringing, etc. went back and forth. It reminded me of my last "rainout" outing -- a fall foliage "workshop" in Michigan's U.P. in October, 2004. My buddy and I drove up Thursday afternoon to a beautiful, sunny day. We went to an area new to me, with plans to photograph a waterfall and a light house early the next morning. We woke to a full scale rainout. I have shots showing the water droplets on my lens as distortion on the falls. Saturday at Tahquamenon Falls, we had similar conditions. In spite of this, I was able to capture what I felt were some"keepers."
All of this has gotten me thinking: We all like to talk about our cameras, lenses, tripods, gps units, etc. But what kind of foul weather gear do you carry?
In my "trip" checklist, I have a whole section devoted to this:
- A rain Poncho (works well because it will cover so much more than just you, including the camera, tripod setup, etc.
- a wide-brimmed, waterproof hat
- rain pants
- garbage bags (large and kitchen)
- I have a rain hood designed for my zoom lens and camera body -- expensive, but good insurance
- towels!
- warm hat and gloves (I carry a pair of the fingerless type)
- waterproof, warm footwear