How to photograph rain - any tips?

I was wondering if anybody had any good tips on how to photograph the rain.

We've had such heavy showers this year and whislt it does't really inspire me to go out with the camera - I'd be quite keen to get some pictures of the rain itself.

I spent a very quick 5 mins stood just inside the back door.I tried different shutter speeds, different depths of focus (through the air), pointed at light things & dark things etc but didn't really get what I was after.

Somebody on here posted a picture ages ago that was great but I can't recall who.

Anybody got any tips ?

My first tip would be to wait until it rains

Seriously, this is something that I have been thinking about for a while, and while rain is the topic, I guess just rain could be fairly boring, so I was thinking that to get a good rain image, you need to shoot something that is interacting with the rain, something in a puddle, rain draining of buildings, rain on glass (always a favorite) that sort of thing.

As rain covers the area in water, and creates puddles and shiny surfaces, look out for 'reflection' shots where you can use puddles or wet surfaces as a mirror.

Some kind of waterproofing for your kit would be nice too. You can either go buy some expensive rain covers for your camera and lens, or use shower caps (I spend a lot of time in hotels, and always 'liberate' the shower cap lol) held on with elastic bands, as its raining, there won't be anyone around to laugh at you

Hope this gives you something to think about Phil, being England I am sure the opportunity to get some rain shots will be here soon

All the best,
Alan.

Thanks WW

I agree with what you say about finding an interesting subject like a splashing puddle or gushing gutters etc. I did a water on window one the other day.

What I was really wanting to know is what settings are best to capture the rain actually coming down.

I wish I could find the one posted one here. It was very heavy rain falling and the picture really captured the strength and speed of the downpour. From memory it looked abroard (but might not have been) and it had a wooden sign in the picture. Not much help I know.

Great tip about finding a suitable subject. Something I used to like doing in the rain when I was a kid, was to go on the swings and let the rain hit my face - maybe Hannah will be a willing volunteer?

phil the only rain picture i can remember is the one MD did with the eagle and his eyes were scary !

lol i havent done any shooting for weeks now coz of bleeding rain everyday !

Al that i can suggest is as before, use a watering can and do a close in photo of a flower or something. That would give you the same affect.

Bazza

Hi Phil.









This is the only picture I think I've ever taken in the rain, as that's normally a sign to run for cover, but I made sure I used a high shutter speed and looked for a dark-ish background to contrast the lighter coloured rain drops.













erm....um...I actually shot this through the window....so I didn't really get wet.




Forgot about these ones

Thanks CL

Great photos Mande
And an interesting topic

Nice shots Mande, very well done.

Bazza mentioned a watering can, well here is a shot I did when I first started photography, it's some flowers that I am watering with a can.

To make the shot doubly false, the flowers are not real either

Follow this link to see the settings I used http://www.cameraangle.co.uk/display...lbum=29&pos=40

I've had a look for the photograph but can't find it - not even sure who took it.

So (excluding all the great tips and ideas) how would I photograph the rain ?

It's the actual rain I'm wanting to photograph LOL