Let It Rain

Gary Hart Photography: Secret Bloom, Rhododendron in Lava Tree State Park, Hawaii

Secret Bloom, Rhododendron in Lava Tree State Park, Hawaii
Sony a7R V
Sony 100-400 GM
2 extension tubes (26mm total)
ISO 800
f/5.6
1/50 second

From sleep depravation to empty stomachs, nature photographers will endure lots of discomfort to get their shots. Another source of photographic misery is extreme weather—in fact, one way to distinguish photographers from tourists is their response to rain: while the tourist packs up and races for shelter when the rain starts, the photographer grabs a camera and bolts outside. This isn’t simply some pointless masochistic appetite, there are actual reasons we love photographing in the rain. Off the top of my head…

Seven reasons photographers love rain

Smooth, (virtually) shadowless light that eliminates the extreme contrast cameras struggle to handle, and enhances color saturation
Clouds are vastly more interesting than blue skies
The best stuff happens in the rain: rainbows, lightning, clinging water droplets
Rain-scoured air creates more vivid sunrises and sunsets
Replenished rivers, streams, and waterfalls
Cloud-filtered light enables the long shutter speeds necessary to smooth moving water
And last, but not least, everyone else is inside, leaving the landscape to us photographers

Case in point

Though the hands-down highlight of this year’s Hawaii workshop was Kilauea’s fiery eruption, that doesn’t mean we lacked for other great subjects. My group also enjoyed the vivid sunrise/sunset color, rugged volcanic coastline, and plunging waterfalls Hawaii is known for. We also found great pleasure exploring the dense, colorful foliage of Akaka Falls State Park, the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, and Lava Tree State Park.

Akaka Falls and the botanical garden are more known (and frequently visited), but this year, largely thanks to the rain, my favorite rainforest shoot came at Lava Tree. A heavy downpour had fallen just prior to our arrival, bejeweling the lush foliage with glistening water droplets, and light rain continued falling as I guided my group along the 1/2 mile loop through the park.

I was especially anxious to get to the back side of the loop, where I hoped to find orchids still decorated with raindrops. Unfortunately, this year the orchids weren’t blooming yet (or they were already done), so I turned my attention to the numerous rhododendron blooms that seemed to be trying to compensate for the missing orchids.

While these rainforest scenes usually start as a hodgepodge of disorganized color and shapes, it usually doesn’t take long for the individual elements to start manifesting. And the longer I stay, the more (and finer) detail I see, until even the smallest thing stands out so clearly that I can’t believe it had been there all along.

On this day I’d chosen to use my 100-400 lens, with two extension tubes totaling 26mm. This setup gave me extra reach to probe the more inaccessible areas, while also allowing me to focus closer and soften everything that’s not my primary subject.

I started at the 100-400’s wider range, gradually working tighter as the surroundings became more familiar. As I walked and scanned, a single rhododendron bloom deep in the dense vegetation stopped me. About 15 feet from the trail, it seemed to float by itself in a sea of green, obscured by so much foliage that I nearly missed it.

When I spy something interesting like this, it’s easy to crash through the forest like an angry elephant, but because I was extremely concerned about dislodging the fragile raindrops, I found myself deliberately stalking my prey—more like a stealthy cougar. (I could have just as easily compared my advance to a slithering snake, but for some reason this cougar analog resonated with me. Go figure.) I set up on the jungle’s edge, about 10 feet away, using the extra reach of my telephoto lens to isolate the flower and its accumulated raindrops.

My umbrella kept my camera and lens dry, another advantage to using a tripod (keeping a hand free to operate my camera). I used a polarizer to reduce the ubiquitous, color-sapping reflections on the wet flower and leaves.

A narrow depth of field that enhances background bokeh is a great way to isolate the primary subject in scenes like this—you can see this in the image’s distinct but soft leaves. Less commonly used is the “shoot-through” technique I applied. By positioning myself so the flower was partially obscured by foliage in front of it, I was able to soften those nearby leaves so extremely that all definition was lost, giving the appearance that the flower is floating in a green fog.

Staying dry

Any time I travel to photograph someplace with even the slightest chance of rain, I make sure I’m armed with basic rain gear:

A thin, waterproof shell that fits over whatever else I’m wearing (shirt, jacket, or whatever the temperature calls for)
Waterproof pants that fit over my regular pants—I have an unlined pair for moderate temperatures, and a lined pair what I think it could get cold, and decide between when I pack
Waterproof hiking boots
Waterproof hat
Wool or synthetic shirts, pants, and socks that will keep me comfortable when my rain gear causes me to perspire (no cotton!)
Umbrella for my camera—because I’m dry (see above), I can dedicate the umbrella 100 percent to keeping the rain off my lens
Towel to dry things (especially my lens!) when they get wet—I often borrow one from my hotel, which isn’t a problem as long as I remember to return it
Plastic garbage bag to drape over my camera when it’s on the tripod waiting for me to do something productive—if I forget a garbage bag, the hotel’s laundry or trash liner bags work fine
And don’t forget your hot-shoe cover. The hot-shoe is exposed electronics, and I’ve seen multiple photo trips ruined because someone tried to photograph in wet conditions without one. And if you don’t realize that your hot-shoe is exposed until you’re already out in the rain or snow (or just away from home, you can dummy-up temporary protection with a strip of tape or (as one of my workshop participants did), cutting a piece of plastic from a disposable container to fit the slot.