Caution: Colorful When Wet

I’m a people person and have no qualms about talking to total strangers. In fact, I’ve met some of the most interesting characters in the most unassuming places.

Take the guy in the Ace hardware store for example. At the time I was on the lookout for buckets. Even though they didn’t carry exactly what I was wanted, our conversation went off on a tangent. Come to find out Bob was also a photographer and had taught classes for years. We discussed various techniques and, while most of the things he threw at me were way over my head as a rookie camera carrier, I learned a thing or two from him.

One of the stories he relayed from his teaching days was that he always took his students out for photo assignments … in the rain. They would invariably grumble and groan about trying to take pictures in such soggy conditions. It wasn’t until he pointed out something to them that they discovered the beauty in wet weather. When things are drenched with water, they become saturated with color and pop. Simply put, bad weather sometimes presents the perfect opportunity to put our photography skills to the test. Whether you are after vivid hues, lightning, water droplets, incredible cloud formations, or reflections that produce mirrors or blurs of color, photography in the rain can be satisfying albeit unpleasant.

But isn’t that what an umbrella and Wellies are for?