Pixiq

Rain and photography don’t mix, I hear many people say. In fact, a lot of people always think that Summer days and photography are a marriage made in heaven. For me it’s more a divorce. All year round but Summer is best to go out and take pictures. That’s IMHO (In My Humble Opinion, if you’re not familiar with the term).

I am not one to go deliberately into the rain all the time, but I will not say no, if invited to go out shooting on such a day. But I would not think of going out if it’s raining cats and dogs… but this last time I was already out when it all began!

I’ve a new workshop, Dances with Boars, (Danças com Javalis in Portuguese) starting in March at a nature area in Portugal, Tapada Nacional de Mafra, and I need to visit some of the areas to make sure I’ll find the new born boars when I go there with a group of photographers.

Scouting the field recently, I was caught by a sudden change – a drastic change, even for a normal Winter day in Portugal – in weather conditions that forced me to make the path back to safety under a heavy rain, cats and dogs like, if you know what I mean.

Even my The North Face old jacket got drenched, although my Rockport XCS boots and Extreme 2 Stealth Gear trousers did protect me properly. But the photography bug was kept alive and after a long trek under copious rain, the first thing I wanted to do when I reached the safety of a shelter was to… take pictures of raindrops falling from the roof tiles. I felt like a kid that had been out playing in the rain and still could not get enough of it. It was then, I think, that the idea of Singin' in the Rain, the 1952 American comedy musical film, mixed with my passion for photography and I decided I had a good reason to write this article and share the experience with you.

It can be more comfortable to go out with good weather, but the experience of a photo session in the rain has the advantage of giving us a new vision of the world and also to open up unique scenarios that otherwise would not be there. The results may be different than expected. And they are, indeed, something unusual for many photographers. The main image of this article is the water flow of Safarujo, one of the constant themes there, but I want to draw your attention to the other images. They are not photo competition material, but more unique memoires from a moment that is unique. I guess that’s photography for the most of us. And that’s also photography at its best: as a memoires collector.

But to shorten what could be a long story: if you’ve the chance, go out into the rain. And forget the puddles of water with reflections and the other stuff people usually do. Try something different, like catching the water drops in mid-air, hanging at the edge of roof tiles. Discover all the colours and effects you get from looking at the world in a rainy day. A cats and dogs one, preferably.