| When it rains, many photographers decide to leave the camera at home. If you are one of them, you miss the opportunity to capture unexpectedly compelling images.
It's difficult to juggle a camera and an umbrella together, but this problem can be handled with a few tips.
Photographing just before of just after rain is an option. The dark clouds in the sky seconds before a heavy downpour can be an explosion of colours and tones. Be quick, it lasts very little time.
To get the depth of the stunning colours, underexpose (light meter on minus) your images.
Just after it rains, a parallel universe emerges from any environment when the sun shines again. In cities, wet asphalt and puddles become mirrors. In the countryside, gardens and fields are covered in tiny drops and if you look at it carefully with a macro lens, almost surreal images can be created.
One of the most iconic pictures of Henri Cartier-Bresson was taken after rain.
"Derrière la gare de Saint-Lazare* is not a photo noted for its historicity, but it is a photo that represents the entire life's works of Cartier-Bresson. Throughout his life, Bresson had been a champion of the Decisive Moment.
Another Magnum photographer, Martin Parr, explored famous British weather like no other. His book "Bad Weather' is a wonderful account of what most photographers try to avoid, terrible weather. So, next time it is raining, don't feel under the weather, pick your camera and pick up a theme, like for example, "Umbrellas around the World".
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