Shooting in stormy weather: Tips to protect your gear — and yourself — from the elements

Rain instead of blue skies greeted University of the Pacific student Alexandria Chan on Dec. 3, 2015, but she did sport a bright blue umbrella to shield herself from the rain as she walked past rows of ornamental pear trees in their fall colors lining the Baxter Walkway on the Pacific campus in Stockton The colors help to make an otherwise gray scene more interesting.

Sometimes the best weather for photographs is bad weather.

Why shoot when it’s storming outside? For a landscape photo, a sky with dramatic storm clouds is much more picturesque has interesting than just plain, featureless one. On occasion, I’m called upon to shoot when it’s raining. It could be to photograph a football game; other times, it could be to shoot the rain itself.

So how do you protect your gear and yourself from the elements?

Most modern cameras have some amount of weather sealing and can withstand precipitation from a drizzle to a light rain without much of a problem. There are waterproof covers that you can purchase for your camera/lens combination that are reasonably priced (less than $50).

Storm clouds are reflected in a puddle as they approach Undine Road and Wing Levee Road in French Camp on March 2, 2018.
Storm clouds are reflected in a puddle as they approach Undine Road and Wing Levee Road in French Camp on March 2, 2018.

In a pinch, you can use a plastic garbage bag. All you have to do is punch a hole in bottom of the bag so that you can stick the front the lens through and then you can operate the camera through the open end.

What’s of more concern is keeping water off of the front element of the lens. Water drops on the glass can cause out-of-focus distortions on your images. You want to keep it as dry as possible.

Using a lens hood, designed to keep out stray light into the front of the lens to control lens flare, a hood can give limited protection from the rain. You don’t want to wipe off the rain from the front element with an abrasive cloth. You should put a filter, like a UV or skylight filter, on your lens to protect the front element from the rain as well as breakage from being knocked around. With a filter on, then you can use a towel or cloths to dab of moisture from the lens without damage the social coatings from the front of the lens (I’ve heard of Kimtech lens cloths are good at this).

Angel Velasco, left, and Ryan Hanson don't let a few sprinkles stop them from playing a little one-on-one on the rain-slickened basketball courts March 19 at Faklis Park in Stockton.
Angel Velasco, left, and Ryan Hanson don't let a few sprinkles stop them from playing a little one-on-one on the rain-slickened basketball courts March 19 at Faklis Park in Stockton.

Speaking of cloths, I carry a small terry cloth towel in my camera bag at all times. When you’re done shooting in the rain, you can use a cloth or towel to dry off your camera before you put it away. Putting a wet camera back into your bag and closing it up can cause condensation to seep into the lens. If you can, when you get back to your home, take your camera out of the bag and let it air dry.

The second thing about dealing with rain is protecting yourself. The first thing is to get a waterproof coat. There are some that are water-resistant and will provide some amount of protection, but they often will soak through if you’re out in the rain for more than just a few minutes.

There are some heavy duty jackets that not only will the repel water but are warm too. That might be good for colder climes, but here in California, it can be relatively warm when the rain comes down. I’ve worn such heavier outer wear and while they may keep me dry from the rain, I heat up inside and start to sweat — so much so that it's almost like not wearing a coat at all.

A vehicle splashes through a large puddle at the bottom of the westbound Crosstown Freeway off ramp Dec. 23 at El Dorado Street in downtown Stockton.
A vehicle splashes through a large puddle at the bottom of the westbound Crosstown Freeway off ramp Dec. 23 at El Dorado Street in downtown Stockton.

I like a lightweight waterproof shell. It doesn’t keep me warm, but it does keep me dry. If it does get cold, I can dress in layers underneath.

One may think that using an umbrella would be a good idea but it’s difficult to handle one and operate the camera simultaneously. I use a wide-brimmed, waterproof hat. It keeps my head dry without the clumsiness of an umbrella.

With a little caution, preparation and thought you can capture images that you may have believed that you couldn’t get due to inclement weather.

Record photographer Clifford Oto has photographed Stockton and San Joaquin County for more than 37 years. He can be reached at coto@recordnet.com or on Instagram @Recordnet. Follow his blog at recordnet.com/otoblog. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: How to protect your photographer's gear — and yourself — from rain