Assignment #19--Shooting in the rain

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:34 pm

You may submit at any time starting today.

Assignment #19 is shooting in the rain.

You can shoot from under a overhang or under an umbrella. You can shoot daytime or night time.

You can shoot black & white or color.

Any subject. Any place.

This assignment will exclude our friends from Tuscon, the Sahara and the Gobi. To them, my apologies.

To the rest, the safety of your equipment is your responsibility. I shot in the rain frequently but I always found an over hang or had a friend with an umbrella nearby.

A couple of drops of water on the camera will usually not be a problem. A drenching will not be a good thing.

The rain will make for a very limited lighting ratio. The light direction will always be from the sky to the ground straight down. If you are shooting portraits take that into account.

The nice thing about shooting in the rain is it is like shooting in a foreign country. You will see things very differently. It is like a different world. And the shots will be unusual if for the only reason it is that most people will not shoot in the rain. Hopefully it will rain a few days over the next 3 weeks.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:13 am

If everyone would do a rain dance I could potentially participate..... here in the desert. ;)

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:51 am

shuttermom17 wrote:

If everyone would do a rain dance I could potentially participate..... here in the desert. ;)

We figured we would exclude some people with this assignment. Don't worry, the next one will be "beach and ocean photography" so you'll do fine.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:00 am

LOL! And still I'm excluded. No beaches or ocean fronts in AZ. ;) I suppose I could be convinced to take a weekend break in San Diego if my arm were twisted enough.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:32 am

shuttermom17 wrote:

LOL! And still I'm excluded. No beaches or ocean fronts in AZ. ;) I suppose I could be convinced to take a weekend break in San Diego if my arm were twisted enough.

Then the snowscapes assignment...

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:51 am

Ok now that's funny!!

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 1:44 pm

shuttermom17 wrote:

LOL! And still I'm excluded. No beaches or ocean fronts in AZ. ;) I suppose I could be convinced to take a weekend break in San Diego if my arm were twisted enough.

How far are you from Roosevelt Dam? I used to tube there back in late 70's early 80's. I have some pictures of people jumping naked from a cliff somewhere in a box of old stuff! Here this may help. ,<lol> A bonus would be getting photos of the cave dwellings...something I never took advantage of doing while I was in "recreational mode." I think they added several hundred feet on to the dam so "my" spots may be under water now.

Directions

Driving time from Phoenix, Scottsdale, or Tucson: 2.5 to 3 hours; from Flagstaff: 3 to 3.5 hours.

From Phoenix, take State Highway 60 (Superstition Freeway) east to Globe/Miami (75 miles); turn left (northwest) on State Highway 188; drive 30 miles to Tonto National Monument.

From Scottsdale, take State Highway 87 (Beeline Highway) north to State Highway 188 (80 miles); turn right (southeast) on 188; drive 39 miles to Tonto National Monument.

From Tucson, take State Highway 77 north to Globe (100 miles); at intersection of 77 and State Highway 60, follow 60 through Globe to State Highway 188; turn right (northwest) on 188; drive 30 miles to Tonto National Monument.

From Flagstaff, take Forest Highway 3 (Lake Mary Road) to State Highway 87 (55 miles); turn right (south) on 87; drive 72 miles to State Highway 188 (17 miles south of Payson); turn left on 188 (southeast); drive 39 miles to Tonto National Monument

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 6:40 am

Yes we know Roosevelt Dam well. About two hours drive from Queen Creek.

Had the most INCREDIBLE rain storm tonight. And I was stuck in a loooong line of traffic because folks in AZ have no idea how to drive when the weather conditions are other than 100 degrees and clear skies. (Which fortunately is most of the time.) Hence, my camera was at home; I was in the biggest rain storm of the summer and some less than fortunate driver was upside down on Power Rd. Consequently, my 30 minute drive home took 75 minutes. Rain was gone by the time I could get my hands on my camera. That will be the end of the rain in AZ this calendar year.

I will be much better prepared when it snows here for that particular assignment. ;)

Shuttermom17

Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 197 Location: Rock Springs Wy.

Im in the same boat here, when it rains here we get 10 drops and then its over. gonna try to find a good mountian storm over the next couple weeks though.

Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 79 Location: USA-NY

miniwyo wrote:

Im in the same boat here, when it rains here we get 10 drops and then its over.

Then why are you in a boat?

Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 329 Location: Miami, FL USA

packard wrote:

The light direction will always be from the sky to the ground straight down.

In South Florida we frequently have what are termed 'sun showers' where the sun is brightly shining and you are getting drenched. We also have many instances when the skies are dark overhead and around the periphery it is quite bright (enough to create shadows) even though completely overcast. I've also experienced having it rain on myself yet the subject is bone dry and sunlit. Not all rain is created equal. 8-)

Premium Member Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 777

Ok, this one is for me. According to the paper we have had 94.32 inches of rain so far this year. - Wait - it was sunny all day today... Packard, if we have a couple of more weeks of sunshine I will know who to blame!

Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 254

Hey Packard, good assignment. Yesterday (prior to reading this post) I had attempted to shoot in the rain but couldn't quite get a good shot...either the rain was not much noticeable (it was drizzeling) or the rain drops looked like white lights (assuming it was from my flash)

Do you have any tips on shooting in the rain?

Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 7:08 pm

realworld28 wrote:

Hey Packard, good assignment. Yesterday (prior to reading this post) I had attempted to shoot in the rain but couldn't quite get a good shot...either the rain was not much noticeable (it was drizzeling) or the rain drops looked like white lights (assuming it was from my flash)

Do you have any tips on shooting in the rain?

I always found a generous overhang to hide under and watched what went by.

Rain looks wettest in the evening.

Most of what I shot in the rain were other people hiding from the rain with me under that generous overhang. It was where I learned about subtractive lighting.

I did this in college on the quadrangle so there were always plenty of people about.

That's all my tips.

Joined: 09 Sep 2006 Posts: 6

I am new to the forum and would like to participate in the Photo Assignment. We have been getting plenty of rain here lately. Sorry if this has been answered in another post or section. When does this particular assignment end?