Monsoons bring with it overcast skies with dramatic views of not just natural landscapes but of the city too. Experienced photographers consider the rainy season a great time to click photographs which have depth and dramatic mood. A novice would be mistaken to believe that a sunny day with clear skies, is the best time to click, but pros believe that compared to a bright, cloudless sky, an overcast day results in more visually appealing photographs. Colours in a photograph, appear rich in such conditions which is the result of the clouds filtering out the blues and UV rays of the sun.
However, before you venture out to take photographs in the rain, it’s good to consider a few points related to the apparatus you might need and the optimal camera settings to use. Here are a few pointers to help you get going!
1. Waterproof Camera Case
Thanks to these, you are saved from the hassle of devising ways to make your camera waterproof using plastic sheets. Waterproof camera cases are easily available online, convenient and reliable. With these on your camera, you needn’t worry about your camera’s safety and can shift your focus on getting some good shots.
2. Lens Hood
A lens hood, is made of plastic and can be attached to the lens. In sunny conditions, it not only protects against the glare, but in rains, also helps to keep the water from reaching and collecting at the rim of the lens.
3. Shutter Speed
Rain appears to be blurred when captured. To get sharper images of the raindrops, you’ll need a quicker shutter speed. If you intend to make the raindrops look blurry, decreasing the shutter speed will give you the effect. Since the shutter speed determines the amount of light that enters the camera, it controls how bright or dark a picture turns out.
4. Aperture
If you are increasing the shutter speed you could increase the aperture too, to give better pictures even if the lighting is low. In aperture priority mode, you can control both depth of field and the amount of light that enters the camera. To capture photos of individual raindrops, try setting your camera to a very wide aperture (f/4 to f/1.4) and correct the lighting by adjusting the camera’s ISO sensitivity.
5. ISO
If you are looking at capturing sharp images of the raindrops, be it a drizzle or a downpour, then the optimal value will be ISO 1600 and higher. Going too high will result in pictures with more image noise. If your digital camera comes with the ISO Sensitivity Auto Control feature, you’ll have help!
6. External Lighting
To get some light into the rain photograph, it is advisable to use a small amount of flash. Using an external flash and working with the lowest settings, to just get enough but not too much light, is a good idea.
7. Tripod
Using a tripod is recommended not just to get sharp pictures, but also to ease the whole process. If you’re shooting out in the rain, you may want to keep an umbrella handy. Getting good pictures while trying to manage an umbrella or other rain gear may seem like a task. A nice, reliable tripod can help you with the process of clicking outdoors better.
8. Not Just the Rain
Rain photography does not just mean shooting pictures of the falling rain. The way water hangs on to surfaces or how amazing the reflection of buildings and street lights look in a stagnant pool of water, a windshield spotted with rain drops and the drama in the skies after the storm has passed. Capturing aspects such as these, which show how the world around changes during the monsoons is a creative way of getting amazing rain photographs.
Clicking in the rain can be a fulfilling and enjoyable experience and can give you some really stunning results. Let us know what are your experiences with rain photography? We would love to hear!
