Photographing wildlife out in the rain

I'm pretty much used to waiting for good weather, dry and with enough light to go outdoors. Yet as of late I've been thinking about all the occasions where I'd had to let go of any outings because of the rainy circumstances, more than I care for really. When come to think of it, its such a waste of oppertunity, whenever there's free time, equipment and transportation having to let go because of a little bit of water pouring down.. So now I'm thinking about possible solutions to overcome such weather and ofcourse its about protective gear for the equipment mostly.

Who does that? Shooting wildlife even in bad weather? C'mon I'm curious 😃

I tried rainy weather shooting once, but i just couldn't balance the umbrella in one hand and the camera in the other :(

Yea must have sucked like that but there are also anti-weather shells and sleeves, I'm kinda looking into that now.

Although its not for me, I do like looking at night time rainy city images so I'm now looking forward to seeing some of your wet and moody wildlife pics. FYI In the latest chris & jordan nikon z8 vid they had some snowy images of bison to help inspire you

jim

Saw that yes, I liked it but generally we dont see a lot of snow over here, we have more of a subtropical climate with lots of rainy days. Provided I can get the right gear at reasonable costs I'm planning on going on lots of wet outings, on those days that I usually have to sit out.

Thanks for the inspiration :)

I live in Oregon U.S. which is considered to be very rainy. Averages are around 40in. to even 90 or more yearly. I would not consider buying camera gear that wasn't weather "resistant". Rainy weather usually means poor lighting.

This Red Shouldered Hawk/Buzzard if you're U.K. was soaking wet. I was hoping for a flight shot but he was not moving, even with rain dripping off his beak.

What may look like a dirty lens was rain drops from the stormy clouds passing overhead. Noise reduction may have deleted some of the drops.

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This Blacktail Buck Deer had shiny antlers, because he and the vegetation were drenched. The droplets on the branches added to the content.

Oh....to answer the question, yes probably a quarter of what I do is in "bad" weather.

That is even more rain than over here (33in yearly on average). Yes it absolutely needs to be weather resistant, I wouldnt want to take the risk of soaked equipment.

Poor lighting is another factor to keep in mind for sure but that is the price one must pay for getting the captures one would usually not.

Thanks for your reply and for the pictures!

Ray

Actually your weather, or at least near Oxford, is pretty similar to here, although our highs and lows are more extreme. Also there are higher elevations near here that support snow most of the winter. Temperatures aside, I nearly froze in the winters over there.

I chuckle when the lens hoods are described as being for shade from the sun or light, I know them as lens umbrellas.

Oxford is not too far away but the English climate still is somewhat different from ours, they have a few more rainy days.

Do you ever meet other photographers out in bad weather over there?

I apologize for the mistake on your location.

Rarely ever see others out with a camera, good or bad weather. The one exception is when at the coast (Pacific Ocean) which is 40mi. "as the crow flies".

People generally arent very fond of cold and rain but Oregon (248,849 km2) covers six times the area compared to the Netherlands (41,543 km2) so that is probably the main reason you meet so few photographers out there. Over here I meet lots of photographers but never outside the good weather, guess that will be different whenever its pouring 😊

I photograph landscapes in all weathers and if I spot some wildlife I will try and get a shot. Living in the wettest area in England and a frequent visitor back home to Scotland if I waited for good weather I wouldn't get out very often. A red deer stag wondering whether to run, Assynt NW Scotland. Ken

Thanks Ken, how do you shield your equipment from the rain?

Beautiful image btw.

Thank you Ray. I use an Optec rain sleeve or an umbrella but if it is wildlife I usually just tuck the camera under my rain jacket, pull it out and shoot. Ken

I'm also curious what you do to protect your equipment. That is a lovely shot!!