Rainy Day Lesson

[Arthur Morris]

Sandhill Crane adult in torrential rain

This image was created on 25 MAY 2020 from my SUV at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used the Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter, and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital Camera Body. ISO 1000. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/200 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB at 10:00am in the pouring rain.
Tracking Flexible Spot (M) AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed to perfection, even shooting through the heavy rain.

Aside from keeping your gear dry, the trick in heavy rain is to vary your shutter speeds in the 1/125 to 1/400 sec. range. The lengths of the blurred streaks will depend on how heavy the rain is and the distance to the subject. Once you have the right exposure bee sure to try different shutter speeds.

As for the image, don't be shy; all comments are welcome and appreciated.

For more on shooting in the rain see the Photographing Birds in Heavy Downpours During Thunderstorms. Learn About Protecting Your Gear and the Best Shutter Speeds ... blog post here.

with love, artie

[John Mack]

Love a bird in the rain. I like the framing. I could see a touch more below. The rain stands out very nicely. I also like the length of the streaks. The water drop on the bill is pretty neat.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Really nice, I like the image a lot. No nits from me, lesson for the rain filed in my memory banks. Thank you for sharing, Artie.

[William Dickson]

Nice one....The red on the head instantly drew my attention, the rest of the image did not disappoint and fitted perfectly...including the rain. Thanks for the info on the SS in the rain, we have plenty over here at the mo.

Will

[Paul Burdett]

Lovely image Artie! Love the rain, the pose, HA, colours and the rain drop on the beak is a nice touch. It does look a little soft to me from the base of the neck down, and having the feet in the image would have been nice (but not possible I guess in this case). Why not a smaller aperture here (although this would have affected the rain)
One question: On my laptop it looks a little washed out unless I angle my screen backwards a little, in which case the image has better contrast/colour. This would not be an issue on my new PC, but I only view images from the forum on my laptop. Is there an ideal laptop viewing angle for images posted here? (or it may be my HP (ageing) laptop)

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love photographing in the rain! This one has nice mood to it, and I like the splashing drops on the bill, plus the accumulation at the tip. Pretty much looks great all around, but did you ponder eliminating the greenish cast on the body from the reflecting grass?

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

A neat one, thanks for the SS tip. I like the overall feel, drops, drips, bounces, etc. Normally I would frame with less above, but because it adds extra drops, works great here.

I had the same sense as Paul about it being a bit washed out, but again, it fits the circumstances. I could see a tweak with the bird with a bit more contrast on the body, but no changes to the background.

The red works well against all the green tones. I appreciate Dan's comment on the green cast on the body. I would try a version with it reduced, but it adds to the atmosphere of the image as is.

It pays to get out when the weather is not so nice!

Cheers

Randy

[Brian Sump]

A certain mood invoked here for sure Artie, love it. Fantastic detail shining through the rain and love the drop at tip of beak.

Great technical lesson here on the SS. I too sensed a touch of green though.

The framing feels ok overall, perhaps maybe just a touch from UL should you decide to crop.

Thanks very much for sharing.

[gail bisson]

I love images in the rain and it is even more fun to try the different shutter speeds to see the difference in the rain drops.
I like this.
I do find it very green so would desaturate the green in the BG and also remove some of the green cast in the belly feathers.
I like the comp but would love 1% more canvas at the bottom for the feet.
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks to all above who suggested a bit more room below (I added back all that was in the original for the repost) and thanks to all above who pointed out the color cast on the bird's breast. For the repost I selected that area with the Quick Selection Tool and desaturated both the YEELLOWs and the GREENS.

with love, a

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely image Artie! Love the rain, the pose, HA, colours and the rain drop on the beak is a nice touch. It does look a little soft to me from the base of the neck down, and having the feet in the image would have been nice (but not possible I guess in this case). Why not a smaller aperture here?
One question: On my laptop it looks a little washed out unless I angle my screen backwards a little, in which case the image has better contrast/colour. This would not be an issue on my new PC, but I only view images from the forum on my laptop. Is there an ideal laptop viewing angle for images posted here? (or it may be my HP (ageing) laptop)

Hi Paul, Thanks for commenting.

re: It does look a little soft to me from the base of the neck down.

That is 100% natural when you are photographing through a downpour. Aside from the streaks of rain that you see in the zone of focus there is a ton of water in the air between you and the bird that will always soften detail. Note that at 840mm at probably 100 feet or more that there is more than enough d-o-f to cover the bird. Going to a smaller aperture would have meant a higher ISO and the only thing that it would have done would have been to bring up unwanted background detail ...

having the feet in the image would have been nice (but not possible I guess in this case).

No guessing needed as the bird was standing in the grass :)

On my laptop it looks a little washed out unless I angle my screen backwards a little, in which case the image has better contrast/colour.

I remember tilting the monitor in the old days :) I am happy with the contrast in both the original image and the repost. I will post a screen capture below to show you how flat the original was. The point of the image is that it was pouring. I could have processed the image with a little more or a lot more punch but that was not my vision given the conditions :) And it would have been totally unrealistic.

The ideal viewing angle is the one that makes your images look good to yourself and others :)

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

This is a screen capture of the original image. Note how flat it is. You can see that I did work on the contrast and color on the top of the head in addition to removing some wayward raindrops on the head and bill.

with love, artie

ps: eagle-eyed viewers might note that I opened the eye a bit ...

[Arthur Morris]

This is a screen capture of the original image. Note the BLUE color cast and how flat the image is. You can see that I did work on the contrast and color on the top of the head in addition to removing some wayward raindrops on the head and bill.

with love, artie

ps: eagle-eye viewers might note that because the crane was squinting, I opened the eye a bit ...

[Mike Poole]

Beautiful and simple shot, the raindrops have been caught perfectly, nice tip on the shutter speed, cheers. The RP with the breast work is a touch better, but the reflected greens look natural to me on the OP so either work

Happy belated birthday

Mike

[Volkan Akgul]

hi Arthur, very vell done. Comp and detail perfect! Congratulations

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Artie: Thank you for the info and answering my queries. Your comment regarding aperture makes sense now...cheers!