Pouring Rain, Photo Fun

This morning I was obliged to walk/run Ziva in rather heavy rain.  Unlike some dogs I could name, she is not the least bit dissuaded by precipitation, or even thunder.  She loves to run through water channels, such as the rush down the street along the gutter on the way to a storm sewer opening at the bottom of a hill.  And if there are piles of wet leaves along the way, so much the better!

Well, after an hour or so of that, I thought I owed it to myself to go out into the rain again with a weather resistant camera.  I had spotted some interesting possibilities along our neighborhood creek.  This is where I say "kids, don't try this at home!"  To put it seriously, if you want to keep your expensive camera gear working, and shoot in heavy rain, you should consider putting a plastic bag around the camera body, with just the hood of the lens poking out of a hole sealed around it.  There are also specially made rain covers for cameras that you can purchase.  Digital cameras are, in large part, computers.  Any water that gets into electronics can cause trouble.  Salt water is especially evil - corrosive! - but that's a discussion for another day.  If you get a little rain on the outside of your camera, just be careful to wipe it off when you get indoors.

All of that notwithstanding, I wasn't worried about the camera and lens I was carrying*, because they are very substantially moisture sealed.  I was careful to keep rain from landing on the front surface of the lens (lens hoods do more than keep stray bright light from hitting the lens), and just went out and shot.  The results were worth it, to me, and it gave me some more experience to call upon if I'm at some gorgeous scenic site on a rainy day.  Here are eight examples.  I began with small things.

Here's a stage-setting view of the creek, running high.

Next are some shots of the white water action.

Note how a high shutter speed freezes the water in the foreground, where it is in focus.

A slow shutter speed perhaps gives a better sense of the many directions of flow.

Finally, a close view of leaves that were collecting and dripping rain. You can see a scattering spray behind them as rain hit a bark projection.  The tree was purplish in the bluish overcast light, and I emphasized the color by increasing the saturation, as if I were shooting the old Fuji Velvia slide film from days of yore.

[Canon 1DX, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II]

When my brief excursion was done, the inside of my weather resistant jacket was wet, and my Tilley hat was soaked through.  However, the innards of the camera seem unaffected.  Well, to be fair, the soak-through of my clothing was a result of my hour out with Ziva as well as twenty minutes with the camera!

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