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    Pray for Bad Weather


    “Pray for bad weather. It makes for GOOD pictures.”

    When my students go out and see a cloudy day and sigh, I tell them, “I love this weather.” When there’s clouds, there’s soft light, and that means there’s texture and shape in the sky—not just a bald blue. This lack of light gives you enormous control, if you’re using flash.

    On a bright, cloudless day, it’s close to impossible to overpower the sun. Put a rack of clouds up there and you’ve got an instant softbox in the sky, and then by introducing your own light, you can easily use the cloud light as either a main or a fill light.

    Things like raindrops on windows are a wonderful thing to shoot—and there’s never been a better time to shoot on a rainy day, thanks to new camera technology (as some bodies are now sealed against moisture) and a whole range of camera rain covers from companies like Kata.

    How to Get This Type of Shot

    This is where your ability to focus comes heavily into play. I’m not talking about the lens (more on that later) but I’m talking about upstairs...mental focus. You’re cold, you’re wet, you’re miserable, you’re worried about your gear, and the last thing on your mind is the shot. Hot coffee at the press bar is looking like an awfully good option. But stick with it. Sports-shooting great Neil Leifer made some of his best pictures out of lousy conditions and lousy light.

    Play with the rain. That may sound ridiculous, but try holding your long lenses at slower shutters like a or so. You can get moments when the players are sharp and the rain, especially heavy rain, whips through the frame like tracer bullets. You actually turn the rain to your advantage, and make it a stylistic element of the photo. This is where Continuous High on your advance options comes to your rescue. Burst the camera. Shoot lots of frames. Accept that certain stuff will be out of focus.

    And, speaking of focus, be careful. Heavy rain can play havoc with autofocus, so you may occasionally have to go back to doing it the old-fashioned way.