PICS & DRIPS

Love what rain and fog can do for your photography, and you’ll not be disappointed with ‘bad’ weather again!

In my mind’s eye, a picture flashed of Eddie & me swimming back to Denver from Mississippi with ropes clenched in our teeth and towing our ‘Little Guy’ trailer. I was contemplating our campsite while standing in shin deep water watching our cooking utensils, plastic plates, matches and a roll of soggy paper towels floating around.

It was barely sprinkling when we had arrived the evening before at the Natchez Trace RV Park in Tupelo and I chose the lowest spot in the park because it was next to the lake and it was ‘pretty’.  If you ever find yourself in an area at the tail end of a hurricane, the low spot nearest the lake might not be such a wise choice.  Just Saying……..

24 hours later, there we were fishing our campsite out of the water, dragging our trailer to an uphill spot and checking our legs for leeches. It had rained lightly all night and the whole time that we were out for the day seeing the Trail of Tears, a local battlefield and Elvis’s Boyhood home. We had no idea how hard it had come down back at our RV Park!  It took a little time to get all the wet stuff into the truck bed and the picnic tent into the dumpster (yep, the water actually bent the poles in half!), but after a trip to the local Subway for a sandwich-for-supper, we found ourselves all nestled into our teardrop trailer watching a movie on the computer, eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and discussing our day’s rainy sightseeing adventures and the fun we’d had taking pictures in the rain.

Up until that point I must to admit to having been a bit of a ‘fair weather’ traveler and had always considered rain something that ruined a day.  Then I took up photography which altered my point of view!  Since then I have come to enjoy rainy days on the road and have realized that weather makes everything more interesting (all weather but wind of course…I’m still working on that).  We’ve learned to stay prepared with rain ponchos, inside options of things to do and good attitudes.  We’ve discovered things that we wouldn’t have seen in sunny weather and had experiences that we might have missed otherwise.

Mostly, though, we have learned to love what rain and fog can do with our photos and I hope that you enjoy a few that I’ve taken in the Rain, Fog & Mist.

We work hard at knowing what settings are best for fog and mist and look for unique angles, lighting and subjects that are appropriate for the conditions.  Here’s a few suggestions to try on your next not-so-sunny day:

*Check out the ‘low key’ setting on your camera.  This setting can make some eerie, gloomy and very cool photos.

*Cut a hole in a baggie and make a rain coat for your camera (you can purchase real ones for the SLR cameras).

*Experiment with Black & White photos.

*Look for rain-created features to take advantage of, such as: puddles and their reflections, close ups of raindrops, water drops on flower petals or other interesting surfaces.

*Look up and make the most of cloud formations – especially at dusk or as the sun is coming back out.

*Catch people dealing with being in the rain.

*Try using a tripod in lower light conditions.  I like my little Gorilla as it’s portable and I can set it anywhere – or even wrap it around a tree branch! I also like to use the timer when its on the tripod to try and avoid blurry shots.

*Wait to see if the sun peeks through….everything is so beautiful and colors are so vibrant when it’s wet.

And Mostly,

*Don’t ever let the weather discourage you from exploring, experiencing, learning, singing, dancing or taking pictures in the RAIN!!!

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In addition to making the most of the weather, keep in mind your Basic Composition Tips!

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