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Author Topic: Bad weather photography  (Read 11615 times)

360NikonD300

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Bad weather photography
« on: December 21, 2008, 09:31:16 am »

I'm very frustrated with my attempts at bad weather photography in rain and snow. A darn flake or drop ruin an otherwise great shot. What do you do to keep rain and now off the lens?
Thanks!
Sy
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Lisa Nikodym

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2008, 11:26:55 am »

Have a spouse with an umbrella to hold over me while I have the camera out.

Really.  Low tech, but it works.

Lisa
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Paul Sumi

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2008, 01:41:58 pm »

I'm assuming you're working from a tripod and photographing landscape-type subject matter.  At least with telephotos, lens hoods will help as long as it's not really driving rain or snow.  The hoods for many WA's are not deep enough.  

For those of us who don't have a camera assistant like Lisa , shielding the front of the lens with a hat, glove or other cover until the moment you shoot will often work.  In between shots, wipe off the front element or filter and cover again.

Paul
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Nacnud

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2008, 05:09:37 pm »

LOL - was on a VERY wet landscape workshop recently
Resorted to my "wet weather lens" - Canon 50mm f2.5 macro

Watched everyone else struggling - but I was OK.
The marco lens glass is set so far back into the plastic that you have to be really careless to get water on the lens!
Try it - it'd great!
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Geoff Wittig

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2008, 06:24:18 pm »

Quote from: 360NikonD300
I'm very frustrated with my attempts at bad weather photography in rain and snow. A darn flake or drop ruin an otherwise great shot. What do you do to keep rain and now off the lens?
Thanks!
Sy

Always keep a lens hood on; obviously a deeper hood will do a better job of keeping raindrops off the font element. My secret weapon is a large soft microfiber cloth in a ziplock bag; just before I trip the shutter I have a quick look at the front element, and I wipe it clean if there are raindrops on it.

How much this matters depends in part on focal length; at 16 mm those raindrops will be very obvious and will smear detail, but at 200 mm the effect may be scarcely visible.
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JDClements

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2008, 09:05:52 pm »

Sometimes you may have to limit yourself to shooting with your back to the wind.
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Lisa Nikodym

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2008, 09:16:55 pm »

Quote
Sometimes you may have to limit yourself to shooting with your back to the wind.

"And here's a photo of my car; the Grand Canyon was right behind me."

Sorry, couldn't resist!  

Lisa
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360NikonD300

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2008, 09:23:53 pm »

Quote from: nniko
Have a spouse with an umbrella to hold over me while I have the camera out.

Really.  Low tech, but it works.

Lisa

That sounds like a great idea! Just when  my wife thought she had enough to put up with me.
Hmm, an umbrella clamp for a tripod! Off to the drafting board.
Of course, an umbrella on the tripod is asking for trouble in any wind. I'll see if I can juggle the umbrella in my "free" hand.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2008, 09:31:33 pm by 360NikonD300 »
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Colorado David

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2008, 09:41:12 pm »

I use an umbrella bracket on my Wimberley Sidekick.  This bracket is very simple and was made to attach a reflective or shoot-through umbrella to a light stand.  There's no need to use a Bogen Super Clamp or any other hardware with this bracket.  I don't know the brand.  Mine is about twenty years old.  One end clamps to the Sidekick and the other end is adjustable and holds the umbrella.  Avoid strong winds unless you want your camera and tripod to look like Mary Poppins.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2008, 09:41:31 pm by Colorado David »
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bretedge

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2008, 11:58:22 pm »

I have quite comically used an umbrella to shield the lens from rain and snow while simultaneous handholding GND filters and the remote shutter release.  It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

If it isn't a complete downpour I'll use the disposable shower cap I swiped from a hotel to cover the lens until I'm ready to make an exposure.  It keeps the lens element free of water drops until you're ready to shoot.  I always keep a microfiber cloth handy to wipe off any errant raindrops/snowflakes that end up on the lens glass.  Decidedly low tech, but effective.

Peter McLennan

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #10 on: December 22, 2008, 12:23:35 pm »

Good suggestions, all.   Shooting in the rain is something Vancouver film crews are renowned for.  They all use shower caps for the lens, frequently-changed bathroom towels or diapers for the camera and they all use brollys when they can (frequently on a Manfrotto arm or grip stand) They use chamois or microfibre cloth for cleaning.  "Canned air" does a great, touch-free job of removing water from the front element.
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JDClements

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #11 on: December 22, 2008, 01:53:37 pm »

Quote from: nniko
"And here's a photo of my car; the Grand Canyon was right behind me."

Sorry, couldn't resist!  

Lisa

Could turn out to be the most creative photo from the trip! Or, just go over to the other rim and photograph from there.
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BernardLanguillier

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #12 on: December 23, 2008, 12:10:35 am »

Quote from: 360NikonD300
I'm very frustrated with my attempts at bad weather photography in rain and snow. A darn flake or drop ruin an otherwise great shot. What do you do to keep rain and now off the lens?

You should try shooting in the rain with a Nikkor 14-24 f.8, now that's tough! :-)

A combination of rain protection pouch and umbrella does help but it remains very hard with such a lens...

Cheers,
Bernard

Philip Weber

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #13 on: December 28, 2008, 07:22:38 pm »

I use the Kata E-702 rain cover which works great and folds up well in my camera bag. They also make a sleeve for long telephoto lenses and I believe Michael Reichmann has worked with the Kata and reviewed it a while back. I'm not sure if he still uses one though.

As previously stated, using a lens hood helps a lot and depending on the direction of the wind and amount of rain, sometimes checking the lens before each shot is the only for sure way to make the shot. In my experience, the Kata usually prevents having to do that however.

I have the Nikkor 14-24mm lens and agree with Bernard on the degree of difficulty there!

Now...having a wife to hold the umbrella (and presumably carry it too) makes me rethink getting married! I should probably put that in the pre-nuptial agreement just to make sure there are no misunderstandings later on!  

Phil
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AndyF

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #14 on: January 02, 2009, 09:54:55 pm »

Just a thought - it might be better not to have the umbrella supported on the same tripod as the camera?  Rainy would be overcast, which would be slower exposures.  Wind would buffet the umbrella and therefore the camera...

Andy
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Adam Schallau

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Bad weather photography
« Reply #15 on: January 03, 2009, 11:59:04 pm »

I use lens hoods when ever possible. As another person already pointed out, they are pretty much useless on wide angle lenses, so I end up wiping the lens in between shots and shielding it with a hat while shooting.
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