Landscape photos in the rain?

I have a DLSR and I will be visiting Vermont for the fall foliage. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to shoot a decent landscape photo when it is overcast and raining? (f stops, white balance, apertures, etc...)

Thanks!

vermilion said:

I have a DLSR and I will be visiting Vermont for the fall foliage. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to shoot a decent landscape photo when it is overcast and raining? (f stops, white balance, apertures, etc...)

Thanks!

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I'm not sure I understand the question, or really the need for the question. I'd shoot it the same way I shoot any other kind of lighting. Most of my gear is weather sealed so no special care there for the rain.

You're going to be in dimmer light, obviously, so would probably need a tripod. I use one anyway. I do white balance in processing. I'm not sure what you mean by "f/stops and apertures." Landscape generally requires a smaller aperture for a deep depth of field. With your tripod, it won't matter that you'll be shooting at slower speeds because of the light.

What I do is to meter green grass or a bush in the same light as my subject. Once I get that basic exposure, I put the camera in manual and adjust to around f/8 or f/11 for a landscape. I have to open up shutter speeds by the same amount I stopped down in aperture. I try to keep ISO at the base level for my camera which is ISO 200. I use a cable release or a 2 second delay on the shutter with the camera on a sturdy tripod. I take a shot and check the look of it and the histogram. I also sometimes use blinkies to determine if I've got blown highlights. I adjust and shoot again. I'll stay at that exposure until I'm done or the light changes.

My existing digital landscape rig is a Nikon D700 with a Nikon 16-35 f/4 lens. I sometimes use an older metal Toyo for film with a 90mm wide-angle lens. It's not as weather proof.

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Cheers, Craig

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What about rain drops, Craig? If it's actively raining, is it best to use a short exposure time to stop the rain drops or a long exposure time to blur them? I've never taken a landscape pic when it's raining, so I have no experience.
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Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700, Sony R1, Nikon D50, Nikon D300
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info

"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."
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Thanks, that helps. When I take photos in the rain or very cloudy days, the colors always seem to be so washed out. I'm just wondering if I should be doing something different.

chuxter said:

What about rain drops, Craig? If it's actively raining, is it best to use a short exposure time to stop the rain drops or a long exposure time to blur them? I've never taken a landscape pic when it's raining, so I have no experience.

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All kidding aside, I've purposely tried to expose for rain before and it's hard, as you can imagine. I used a powerful strobe as a fill flash to get the near ones. It's pretty tough to get them close enough but also have the horizon in focus though. I've done it with nearer subjects like a gal with a bright umbrella and the drops between.

For general landscape, I ignore them. They won't generally show.

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Cheers, Craig

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You're probably overexposing. Try getting your exposure the way I said. You could also shoot in A mode at say, f/11 and using compensation to underexpose until you're happy.

You also might wish to increase saturation. If you shoot RAW, this can all be done later in your digital darkroom. You might bump up contrast and saturation a tad without over doing it. If you're a Jpeg shooter, you'd have to do this in your camera which can be a pain, but worth it.

All were taken in the drivng rain or medium soaking rain.







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Cheers, Craig

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any suggestions on how to keep your lens from fogging up ?

Leave the AC off in your car or truck. Keep your kit at around the same ambient temperature as the outside. Fog generally occurs when you move from cooler to warmer in high humidity. Living in Florida, we have this issue quite often.

On my truck, I leave the windows somewhat open when it's raining. It rains a lot here. If I get rain inside, I'll close that window. I also sometimes use a locking tool box in the bed, especially if I don't have to leave the truck for long. I bought the toolbox for camera gear storage, not tools. Sometimes it's needed when three or four of us go into the field and there's no room for gear in the back seat. As an avid fisherman, it serves well there too.

Even if the lens fogs, it generally clears up in short order, at least for me.
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Cheers, Craig

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bentwig said:

any suggestions on how to keep your lens from fogging up ?

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Use sealed lenses.

I have used a 70-200vr in a moonson type rain storm. I have taken it mounted on my d700 (sealed camera) in and out of a high temperature humid environment to a cooler dryer one. Condensation on the outside only.

A sealed camera body and a sealed lens are the ticket.
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See my plan (in my profile) for what I shoot with. See my gallery for images I find amusing.

Great photos. Thanks. I will switch my photos to raw and see if that makes a difference.

Since I don't have a weather sealed pro body, I just wrap my camera and the lens up to the front glass in saran wrap. I make a little flap over the front of the lens, so I can compose through it and not get droplets on the glass. I get everything set up, and when I'm ready, I just lift the flap and shoot. Not elegent, but it works.

Rain usually looks like a fog in photo. It is difficult to make the drops visible. The movie director Kurosawa used to colour the water with ink to obtain the effect of heavy rain. The rain will be visible when you have a puddle or other water in the near foreground.

thanks for all the great tips, i'll just have to plan ahead on humid days.