Nature Photography: Don’t stay at home just because it rains

This picture was shot today evening during heavy rain:

It’s not my best close-up but I like it. If I had stayed at home because of the rain, I would have missed that shot (and several others).

Photographing during the rain is not without problems. I don’t mind if I get wet. I just have to pick proper clothes. But it’s more important to protect the camera and lenses from the rain.
Some rain drops probably won’t damage your camera. My Canon EOS 40D gets wet from time to time without any problems so far. But I don’t leave it out for hours in heavy rain. I always try to protect it. Many lenses from Canon and Nikon are weather sealed, but not all, especially not the cheaper ones. Check the manual of your lens. And most cameras (expect the professional bodies) are not fully weather sealed, either.
The most important thing is to keep the front lens dry. A drop of water won’t ruin your lens, but you will see the drop on your image and that will be ruined (or you will spend some time in Photoshop).

NEVER let water inside your camera when changing the lens. DSLRs are full of electronic stuff. If you get water into them, it might seriously damage the camera.

When I shoot in the rain, I always take an umbrella with me. I hold it over the camera when changing lenses or CF cards or when I am adding an extender. Some people take plastic bags with them and change lenses in there. Pick a method that suits your needs. The only important thing is to keep your camera dry inside.

You can also mount an umbrella on your tripod to protect your gear from the rain. There are several solutions available. See here for an example. Be very careful during wind when mounting an umbrella on your tripod. The wind might knock down the tripod and umbrella and your lens and camera can be ruined.

For some lenses and cameras, there are special water proof covers available, like those here in the Naturescapes.Net store.

Rain offers many possibilities for good photographs. You can include the rain in the image. This works especially when it’s very heavy rain or you can see raindrops falling on water.
Or you could find an animal that’s totally wet because of the rain (works very good with mammals when the fur gets wet).

In the case of the moth above, the rain let the temperatures fall so low that it was to cold for it to fly. So it rested on the flower where I could photograph it easily. During sunny weather, that would have been much more difficult.

You see, with a little preparation, there is no reason why you should stay inside during a little rain the next time you want to go shooting.