Transform your rainy day blues into beautiful photography!
Rain Photography
Rain is a beautiful sight to behold, looking up to see the sky slowly releasing a sea of water, the havoc it can wreck at times yet is essential to life on earth, the sound of rain parachuting onto a tin roof remedying the soul within - capturing this almost chaotic beauty is perfect in the world of photography.
In theory rain is the anti-weather for photography, very little light, spoils sunset photos, however there is almost a darkside fantasy element that creates this intrigue towards stormy conditions. Today we uncover the best photographic strategies to harness the power of rain photography.
Rain Droplets
Rain Droplets
A perfect half circle rain droplet resting on a gentle leaf is a beautiful sight and more importantly a beautiful photo.
Flower photography infused with rain droplets elevates the aesthetic beauty of the actual flower. There is a special motionless interaction between a droplet and plant where only a camera can capture this moment with greater detail than what the human eye can see.
The key to success is to shoot immediately after the rain has stopped and to allow the sunlight to regain its strength while not waiting to long for the water droplets to evaporate. This creates a collision from the best of both worlds - the raindrops that provides the aesthetic beauty and the sunlight that enables the camera to take sharper quality photos.
Clouds
Clouds
Clouds bear resemblance to a god like persona, the Greeks referred to Zeus as the "cloud gather" given his ability to control the weather, and clouds are often associated with the place where god resides.
The excitement when shooting landscape photos containing clouds is the randomisation of the cloud formation which makes the photo unpredictably thrilling. With help from lady luck hopefully the clouds have a balanced contrast and brightness, and the cherry on top is the sunlight scarcely yet noticeably shining through in patches where it seems Zeus is peeking through the clouds. The clouds make the moment extra special as the exact cloud scene cannot be replicated compared to a pure blue sky.
Tips when shooting clouds, it may be best to slightly under expose the photo so the white clouds are not blown out, once this occurs it destroys the architecture of the cloud which is responsible for the dramatic effect. The shadows in the under exposed photo should be recoverable in Lightroom/photoshop when shooting in RAW.
The finishing touch to bring out the dark aura in the clouds is to use a dark moody filter during the editing process. Free filters can be found on Instagram or if you are seeking a more quality look then Lightroom has a great range of free filters. I personally prefer to create my own lightroom filters to produce an unique looking edit.
Before & after
Rain
Rain
There is no cooler moment when the superhero is starring down the villain while being swarmed with endless raindrops falling from the night sky.
Capturing actual rain falling in photography is an insurmountable task, generally one is running away from the rain yet to do the opposite and shoot a subject weathering the rain is quite the task.
Raindrops frozen in time adds a dramatic flavour to the shot and in the below photo it makes the peacock appear even more compelling and brave. A high shutter speed is essential to capture the raindrops with detail, this was captured at 1/160fps at 70mm. A shutter speed that is more than double the focal length is ideal. Taking multiple photos is highly recommended as some shots will feature more raindrops that others, in the end select the best overall photo.
Reflections
The Ability to mirror nature back at nature is a beautiful thing.
A photo with great potential is the puddle reflection shot, this involves shooting a landscape photo with a puddle in the foreground reflecting the image of a nearby object. The viewer is perplexed and captivated seeing double of the same object without the photo containing any mirrors.
A great and common example of this is a rain puddle in the middle of the city with illuminated skyscrapers towering around while their reflection is being featured in the lonely puddle.
puddle reflection + dark cloudy capture = perfect shot
The recurring theme behind great rain photography is taking photos soon after the rain stops given the rainy mood scene will slowly evaporate into your typical sunny Sunday shot.
Thank you for your time and effort :)
comment below in english, french, spanish or another language about your experience, opinion, or a question you may have.