Taking Photos During Rain

[Ian]

Hey all!

I am heading up to New Hampshire on friday and checked on the weather and found its going to rain. Is there a way to take good road photos during a rain storm?

Thanks!
Ian

[Chris]

Well, you probably cannot take a lot of pics if it's really raining hard, but light showers are doable. Take the pic immediatly after the wiper blade passed. Make sure to have new wiper blades, otherwise you don't get a clean window. Splash from traffic might also be a problem.

I took this pic while it rained. But it helps if there isn't traffic ahead of you.

(N63, Belgium)

[Truvelo]

Is there a way to take good road photos during a rain storm?

In a nutshell, no.

To the contrary, I took this whilst it was raining lightly. I did as Chris says, take the picture immediately after the wiper has passed to reduce the amount of water spots on the window. I also set my camera manually to keep the shutter speed high in dull weather. Of course, you need to concentrate on your driving or you'll end up needing the AA to come and tow away your totaled car

[Chris]

Dutch freeways are nearly 100% paved with porous asphalt concrete. It's an expensive pavement, but it allows to drain the water much better, and even in quite heavy rain, there will be no splash at all. That way you can make pictures during rain.

PAC or ZOAB as we call it in Dutch:


(maybe Mr Winkler knows the exact English term).

[DanTheMan414]

I'm admittedly a bit more picky about the quality of the photos I take than I used to be.  If it's raining, with few exceptions, I now put the camera down automatically when it's raining.

[Alex]

Its all about timing your photos to coincide with the exact moment that the wipers swipe the window of water. It requires timing and you don't always get success. But I have salvaged many photos in the rain doing this method.

I usually use the "mist" option on my wipers, pull the handle to swipe and time the photo to coincide with the wiper returning.



When we went to Oregon in April 2005 it rained quite a bit yet we were able to salvage some photos through Eugene.

Additionally I always use a black shirt on the dashboard (the dashboard reflection can be quite pronounced on cloudy days) even when not sunny. When editing photos, I make use of the rubber stamping function to eliminate many of the rain drops to reduce their distraction on each photo.

[Truvelo]

When editing photos, I make use of the rubber stamping function to eliminate many of the rain drops to reduce their distraction on each photo.

You could also copy and paste the O in Fairgrounds to replace the blurred O in Florence

[agentsteel53]

excess vehicles, at-grade crossings with traffic lights, Clearview signs, neutered interstate shields, Walmarts, etc... are easily photoshopped out just as easily as excess raindrops. 

[Alps]

Its all about timing your photos to coincide with the exact moment that the wipers swipe the window of water. It requires timing and you don't always get success. But I have salvaged many photos in the rain doing this method.

I usually use the "mist" option on my wipers, pull the handle to swipe and time the photo to coincide with the wiper returning.

When we went to Oregon in April 2005 it rained quite a bit yet we were able to salvage some photos through Eugene.

Additionally I always use a black shirt on the dashboard (the dashboard reflection can be quite pronounced on cloudy days) even when not sunny. When editing photos, I make use of the rubber stamping function to eliminate many of the rain drops to reduce their distraction on each photo.

Good idea on the black shirt.  I keep forgetting to put something up there.  My NC-US 1 button copy was all done in mist to rain with your method - I only had to keep a couple from a previous submission.