What is available light? 7Zap!
Photographing the elements can be a humbling experience.
Mother Nature unleashes incredible power, dwarfi ng mankind
with her fury. If you’ve ever been caught in a heavy cloudburst,
a fi erce windstorm, hailstorm, near a hurricane, in a blizzard, or
in a thunderstorm with deadly lightning striking around you, you
know that feeling. In cases like this, there is nothing you can do
except wait it out. Well, you could be taking photographs while
you wait.Weather tips from Barry
The elements provide the backdrop and subject matter for many
incredible photographs. To capture these images, a photographer
must be willing to uncover his or her precious camera and risk
getting it wet. Don’t worry—your camera can take it. Most
modern digital SLRs are well sealed and modest rain or snowfall
won’t penetrate their interiors. Of course, you will need to take
some precaution to cover your camera between exposures. Tuck
it inside your coat. Put a plastic bag over it or put it back inside
your (hopefully) waterproof camera bag. Under these condi-
tions, you won’t melt and neither will your camera. Joe collects
the shower caps that are thoughtfully provided by hotels and
keeps a few in his camera bag to cover his camera when working
in the rain.Photographing in the rain is a
challenge. You can hold an
umbrella or do what Joe did when
photographing these Japanese
students—get wet. He was also
indulging his propensity for fi lm
homage, and in this case it’s
Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Cor-
respondent. Exposure was 1/50
sec at f/5.6 and ISO 1600. Lens
was a Canon EF 100–300 mm
zoom at 195 mm. © 2005 Joe
Farace.
Most lightning shots are made from afar, so a cityscape or land-
scape can be included as a framing device for the composition.
The distance provides safety, and the city in the foreground and
background can produce a dramatic photograph. A typical