Rainy Window Photography

I can’t recall such a rainy February in Israel. Apparently this has been the wettest winter in years. If it’s too rainy where you are to take your camera outdoors, here’s an option.

These photos were taken in the dairy cafeteria at work, after I’d borrowed a friend’s umbrella to take my every-day-no-change-whatsoever-why-am-I-doing-this fig tree photo. I played around with the colours in Adobe Lightroom 3, a birthday present from my husband. Photographs of rain streaming down windows are not difficult but you do need to be comfortable with manual focusing, because auto-focus just won’t get you the results you want. Play with the focus until you get an interesting abstract composition. You don’t want a record of all the smudges and nose prints on the glass! It helps if there’s something interesting on the other side.

On the other hand, just because it’s raining doesn’t mean that you can’t take your big, fancy, expensive DSLR outside. You do need to take some precautions to protect your equipment against moisture and condensation. I have a good, coated UV filter on the front of my lens to protect it from rain, scratches, and other damage. I put the body in a disposable plastic shower cap if it’s really pouring. Otherwise, I hold it under an umbrella or photograph from an alcove or open window. When you bring it inside, give it a wipe so that the body’s dry. Clean the filter with a microfiber cloth.

If you live in a cold area, you need to be careful about condensation forming when you bring your camera indoors. It’s a good idea, while you’re outside, to put your camera in a big ziplock bag and seal it. Then bring it inside and let it come to room temperature inside the bag, so that condensation forms on the outside of the bag, not on your camera body or — worse — inside your lens.

The photos below were taken from a friend’s office. My room faces east and doesn’t get the wind and rain to this extent.