Jump to content

Do you go shooting during bad weather?


Recommended Posts

Yes, Keith, we know you do, lol.

We are supposed to start getting torrential rain starting tonight through tomorrow. I'm thinking about driving around in it tomorrow, seeing if there are photo ops.

Any tips of good subjects to watch for that would be salable?

Goals:

Pictures, hopefully good ones

Don't get washed off the road

Keep my camera dry

Keep my powder dry

Dance in the rain, but then I wouldn't keep my powder dry.

 

What do y'all do when the cats and dogs tumble from the sky?

 

And no, there will be no "big surf" opportunities in landlocked Oklahoma.

Betty

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Betty,

When it's 'hammering' down I'm normally processing on my PC in the dry! However, I never discount bad weather days and have had sales with grey skies and in the wet - obviously depends on the subject!

On my 'hobby' side of things, I do monochrome which I exhibit (if I'm lucky!) and rainy day skies, clouds, etc, can be very dramatic especially when grey or ND graduates are utilised. I just like a dramatic sky!

As far as camera protection is concerned, I do use a waterproof cover and lens hood, and that's it. I normally get more wet than my camera!

 

Enjoy the wet,

 

Jim. :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Betty, you're from Oklahoma! It's the bad weather capitol of America. If I were living there, bad weather would be my specialty, nobody would have better thunderstorm, wind storm, hail storm ... or any kind of storm photos than me. Indeed, people travel to Oklahoma to photograph the weather. Living in Oklahoma and not shooting the bad weather is like living in England and not shooting castles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Philippe, great suggestions!

And, no, I don't use powder, lol. Prefer to not look like I fell into a flour barrel face first. I just like that old expression I've heard about used by the 40s generation when saying goodbye and someone would say, "keep your powder dry!"

 

Brian, I'm always very torn about shooting In severe weather. I absolutely love those towering, black clouds. I've been waiting for the opportunity to shoot them and/or funnel clouds for several years. Trouble is, our storms in my part of the state seem to come after dark. I'm wanting those clouds against a partial blue sky. So many times they are wrapped in rain and you can't see them. Or there are forecasts of baseball size hail with the few that come in daylight, which break out windshields and ruin the auto. I'm driving a 2016 Subaru right now, and Jasmine would be unhappy if I let hail ruin her pretty face. And I might slit my throat, since she's not paid for.

 

It seems the opportunity to get the shots I would want would require driving 100 miles or more straight west, where these storms are often born, and where the landscape is open enough to see the formations and appear dramatic, in the hopes of getting the desired conditions. So you drive, based on the forecast, and if lucky, might have a chance at the "shot" one out of ten times.

Believe it or not, it's not as easy as you would think. You'd basically need to be a storm chaser, drive a beater, and be willing to spend the fuel costs.

The worst of it for me is the possibility of getting caught in the hail or having a tornado take a turn and get me.

We get non-stop severe weather television coverage around here. Meteorologist with their TV cameras chase the storms. Twice in the last couple of years a tornado made a wrong turn and nearly got the chaser. One was screaming to his driver, "back up, back up!" while getting footage of the debris swirling right in front of them.

And these are people with the proper training, with people at the station watching the radar and keeping them informed.

Then there was the famous guy who chased weather around the world a few years back who did get caught and killed right here in Oklahoma.

So I'm wanting, but apprehensive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you go shooting during bad weather?

 

Absolutely not Betty.... there's a reason strobes were invented!! Client property shoots on sunny days (booked some sun for Tuesday and Wednesday this week) and then bright, little wind but slightly overcast wanted for end of week for other work. Getting wet for stock is not in my DNA!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you go shooting during bad weather?

 

Absolutely not Betty.... there's a reason strobes were invented!! Client property shoots on sunny days (booked some sun for Tuesday and Wednesday this week) and then bright, little wind but slightly overcast wanted for end of week for other work. Getting wet for stock is not in my DNA!!

If you lived in Oklahoma, I guarantee you'd be tempted. Although maybe not rain, you get plenty of that, but storms....maybe.

 

It's not panning out for me today anyway. The bulk of the rain came down during the night. It's just raining gently now. I wanted a tempist.

As far as rain, you're talking to the gal who grabs an umbrella, puts on flip flops and walks in the rain for the sheer joy of it. Maybe that comes from Oklahoma's famous droughts, so when the rains come, you want to dance in it. I think that's in my DNA.

I feel a walk coming on, not a shoot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Besides the tornadoes, like the one that took the roof off our house when I was a teenager and killed over 20 people, we get killer ice storms every few years. We had two lesser ones this past winter. Brought down a lot of tree limbs and caused widespread power outages. My sister fell on the ice the end of December and had a severe brain injury, brain bleed and hematoma, that I'm not sure she'll ever wholly recover from. It caused her to have two strokes.

The ice storms are beautiful, though. When the sun comes out, it's like the world is made of diamonds.

Then there was the 13 inch blizzard at Christmas a few years ago. It caught us away from home, so when we made it down from Kansas past a few hundred cars and semi-trucks in the ditches, it took two men to shovel a way through 5 foot drifts so we could get into our house.

Yes, we have it all. But so much of the time, I really can't shoot it because it's very dangerous to be on the roads. With just about every shootable event, danger rides its back and people are warned to stay off the roads.

Philippe, I sure wouldn't want to be in a tiny shed during severe weather, for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmmmm... as a Belgian, my idea of really bad weather is a laugh when I compare it with what you just described. Our hail is the size of ...... well, ahum ....peas :unsure:  And when we get 2 cm of snow, the whole country comes to a complete standstill. Don't laugh! It's true!  :(

 

But - Hey Ho! - before you think Belgians are sissies, I slept outside in a tiny open shed - the size of a bus shelter - along Loch Etive during the Great Boxing Day Storm of 1998. That was quite an experience I'll never forget :o

 

Cheers,

Philippe

If you need a keyword for that tin shed it's called a sheiling. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On rainy weather, I use a protection plastic bag in my camera and go shooting normally.

I wear a rain jaquet.

Its just very complicated to switch lens, so I keep mine 24-105 that fits almost it all.

I constantly clean the lenses because they tend to get wet of course.

When walking in the street I look for reflections and moody images if you will.

If the rain is too strong, I tend to look for details, things I can take close shots, because the rain make them not good from the distance.

This one I took under heavy rain.

chinese-garden-zurich-switzerland-FMYMM0

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just last week there was a forecast of light rain; I stayed at home. I do own an RX10, which is supposed to be water-tight . . . although I've never tested it. Perhaps I'll hold it out the window for a few seconds in the next downpour. 

 

I did all the wild and crazy things people do in my youth. I survived. Now I live on the 4th floor of a walkup, so I try to avoid broken bones.  :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Took this one the day before Hurricane Sandy hit:

black-point-beach-niantic-east-lyme-conn

 

And these the day after when I was home far from the water (yes, that's my house):

chappaqua-ny-usa-30-oct-2012-hurricane-f

usa-30-oct-2012-hurricane-force-wind-dam

 

 

I tend to go out in my neighborhood and shoot when things have quieted down - or when they are starting up - I was shooting the trees blowing in the wind  from my back porch and minutes after I came in, that tree from our neighbor's yard hit our house including the spot where I'd been standing - though fortunately it just put a small hole in the roof and dented up our cars - no one was hurt - so I've been more cautious since then. So sorry to hear about your sister - that's horrible.

 

Of course, I've had plenty of opportunity to shoot in the snow:

 

chappaqua-new-york-23-january-2016-the-f 

 

But chasing funnel clouds, you are far braver than I. I'd be down in the storm cellar well out of harm's way. Stay safe and hope you get some great shots! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bad weather in Vancouver usually means rain, lots of it in winter. I generally don't bother photographing on rainy days.

 

However, some brave souls do run out to coffee shops (which are everywhere in Vancouver) for refills during soggy weather:

 

blurred-motion-image-of-woman-walking-in

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love these weather shots! And Marianne, we do get some blows here minus tornadoes. Gust fronts come through 50-80 mph. Of course, the trees take down the lines.

The longest we've been without power was 4 days from one of those gust fronts. When we bought this house, we changed out the electric range and put in gas. I was the only one on our street that could brew coffee with an old perculator pot. :) I had to use a match to light the stove because, of course, the electric ignition didn't work.

Somehow, (crossing fingers) we've not lost power during the ice storms. The last one after this past Christmas brought down a big limb off our big ash in the back. That got my attention because all the lines to our house passed through those limbs.

$600 later, the tree is gone, and my nephew has some really nice slow burning firewood.

And I got pictures of the crew cutting it down. I love trees, that hurt. But.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The longest we were without electricity was 11 days - and we had a crew from Boston and one from Missouri helping restore the electricity after Hurricane Sandy - if they hadn't come out to help Con Ed, who knows how long it would have been.  A few other times we were out for around a week. But despite the hassles we New Yorkers do enjoy playing out in the snow  B)

 

With all the storms we've had, we have enough firewood to last several years - and we've burned some and given a ton away. 

 

chappaqua-new-york-usa-10th-february-201

chappaqua-new-york-usa-10th-february-2013-a-snow-storm-over-the-weekend-d35x66.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's no such thing as bad weather.......just bad dress sense!!!! ;)

A tornado doesn't much care if you're in your pajamas or your all-weather outfit. ;)

 

Speaking of, the tornado that took off our roof when I was a teen collapsed the brick chimney into my closet. All of my clothes were beat to pieces. Anyone who might have taken refuge there would have been killed. I was in another part of town at the time which was fortunate. My mother draped herself over my grandmother to protect her, and my stepfather laid on the living room floor and stuck his head under a side table. Other than a scratch or two, they were fine. Wish I'd been into photography then.

 

We're expecting severe weather 5-7 days from now. Maybe a photo op will present itself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lol. You hate it as much as I love it.

As an 8-15 year old, every time it stormed I wrapped myself in a quilt and sat deep on our recessed porch. I gloried in the thunder and lightening, and the wind blowing rain in my face.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I carry two cameras no matter what the weather is doing.

 

I use Peak Designs capture clip system to attach my cameras to the straps of my backpack, one wide the other telephoto. They also sell soft shell covers that fit neatly over the camera. To be honest, the cameras and lenses are weather resistant but this is belt and braces protection as I keep them out on the backpack straps no matter what the weather is doing. Between this and the Osprey Backpack I use.... took a few years of fine tuning to gain instant access to 16-200mm FL while keeping the gear secure and safe(ish)

 

 

maol-chean-dearg-near-torridon-during-a-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.