Photographing In The Rain

As a travel/nature photographer, we are often "offloaded" to some strange places with weirder weather conditions. Recently, I was "teleported" to a deforested part of Inner Mongolia known as Horqin Desert. I prepared myself for extreme heat and sand storms but it turned out to be cooling and light rain throughout the day.

Fortunately, both of my camera bodies and almost all my lenses are weather-sealed (DWR) for outdoor shooting. How confident am I with Canon's DWR you might ask? Pretty confident. I have tested 1D Mark IV, 1Ds Mark II, 1Ds Mark III and 7D in many extreme outdoor conditions and non of them ever show sign of failure/fatigue.

Photo Credit: Canon

To keep out water and dust, the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III has weather seals at 76 locations such as around buttons, dials and switches.

It is crucial for outdoor photographers to have peace-of-mind without having to worry about our gears. We can then focus on protecting ourselves (apparently our own body requires more attention) and to stay focus in getting the shots.

Having said that, I have developed a simple guidelines in helping me to shoot effortlessly under such weather condition:

• Always use a lens hood – I will choose the lens according to the weather condition. 24-70mm is the best as the hood is much 'deeper' than the other wide-angle lenses. The hood will block the rain water off the front element of my lens.
• Never face your lens upwards – I have developed a way to hang my camera body with the lens facing downwards all the time.
• Wear a cap – This will stop water from dripping down your forehead. It also help keep the area between your eye and the viewfinder dry.
• Check your battery and memory card before shoot – Your camera body is at its most vulnerable when you open it up. Just make sure you have enough juice and slot in a new memory card before the shoot. Changing lens is a bad idea too.
• Don't use a battery grip – I have read several reports where battery grips break the camera's weather-sealed system. It's logical as battery grip is never part of the body. Third-party battery grips may pose increase risks.
• Don't wipe the lens filter – Unless you have a specialized magic cloth, wiping water off your filter will make things worse. In times of desperation, I will remove the front filter (stained by water droplets) and continue shooting.

You may choose to wrap your camera with protective cover. There are many specialized cover out there to cater to different camera body type and lens type combination. But it looks kinda strange and definitely not very sexy :-p

Raining is a very depressing time for both your subject and you. The mood is just horrible and the lighting is even worse. But fret not because every situation creates new opportunities and I am about to demonstrate to you shooting under the rain can be just as fun and fruitful (well just forget about the light ok?)

Firstly, look for cheerful characters within your group. Once you have spotted them, spend more time with them. Also, look at all those bright colors! They are gorgeous!

In a forest of green, the colorful rain jackets became the point of interest.

The vibrancy and translucency of the raincoats can be very interesting to photograph. Look for color formation. Didn't know iPhone 3Gs is weather-sealed too :-o

Shooting greens with water droplets are nice too. Against a darker backdrop, you can try to take some slower speed shots to include streaks of rain water.

Look around and you might spot some local kids walking around in cute little "Wellington" boots. And you get interesting reflections on the ground too. You don't get that in a sunny day, that's for sure.

So the next time you feel totally depressed by the wet weather, just look for opportunities and keep going. And yes, having a backup camera body safely zipped inside your camera bag is priceless.

Coverage: Wild Borneo Photo Talk by C.S. Ling

I just gate-crashed myself into the National Geographic Store at Vivo City to be part of C.S. Ling's photo talk on Wild Borneo. The talk was nice with plenty of wildlife photographs to keep the slideshow going for close to 90 minutes. The pace was alright and most of us felt pretty cozy seating around the projector screen.

Enough said, I'll let the photos do the talking.

People starting to fill up the pedestals at around 7.00pm.

C.S. Ling and guest speaker Ethan Lim doing a reenactment of a typical shooting scenario cruising (on narrow boat) along the Kinabatangan River, Sabah. And yes, they did burst for a few seconds just to demonstrate the power of Nikon D3s. They both offer photo expeditions to Borneo and Japan. Here's a link to their website Life List Chase

Most of the attendees are working people and only a few raised their hands when asked "who's a wildlife/bird photographer here?". I raised my hand.

The second half of the presentation are mainly on Orangutans. C.S. made several trips to Borneo seeking for scenes with mother-and-child Orangutans in the wild but without much luck. According to her, it's rare to find such scene due to their solitary nature and dwindling habitat.

I smiled broadly after hearing that, remembering some mother-and-child shots taken at the Singapore Zoo some time back. Singapore Zoo Orang Utan Exhibit is probably one of the most interesting in the captive world.

Photographs of Orangutans by Jervis Mun

 

Photographs of Orangutans by Jervis Mun

Photographing While On-The-Move

We spend so much time on-the-move whenever we travel, in fact a big chunk of our time spent abroad is often on some mode of transportation. As photographers, we often find ways to shoot continuously, as if we have a daily shutter quota to hit!

I have traveled quite extensively in the past 2 years, spending many hours flying and "rolling" around in search of interesting sceneries and subjects. And many of my favorite photos were actually shot while on-the-move.

The next time you feel like sleeping in the bus... think of me :-)

This shot was taken while traveling on a cattle truck during a recent trip to Horqin Desert, Inner Mongolia. This shot has it all, the prison-looking truck, the people and the desert sand.

It was a privilege to be on board the National Geographic Expedition ship. This scene will look a lot less interesting if am to move forward to the bow, totally eliminating the foreground. Sometimes, including the vehicle you are traveling on completes the story.

As mentioned above, this photo will look like an ordinary sunset shot if I didn't include the wing of the aircraft. This was taken on a flight from Jiuzhaigou to Chongqing.

Shooting from a tour bus can be very frustrating sometimes especially when the lighting condition is not ideal and you have to shoot through filthily-stained window. Take a few shots if the subject is worthy, you can always rely on creative post-processing to salvage the photo. It may not give you an award-winning shot but it's still better than not having any.

It's thrilling for your viewers to be "on your shoes" especially when you are attempting something rather adventurous or outright silly. Took this shot while kayaking at the high Arctic Ocean. Would've taken a better shot if I could just concentrate and relax.

Always look for a seat next to a window which you can open fully. Lay your camera strap around your neck and go out there and get some shots. Having a rotating LCD/Liveview helps but it often focus too slowly for moving objects. This shot was taken while traveling around Jiuzhaigou. The slow 1/25 shutter speed will create a "booms" effect.

There are many cities which are renowned for bad traffic. Chengdu is one fine example. You can often find interesting local and cultural relics on tour bus. Include them all!

Shooting through a cable car window is quite challenging as the window is often curved, made of plastic (usually full of scratches) and you can't move around too much without disturbing others. It's definitely not an ideal scenario but you can never know what you will get until you press the shutter button.

The bus ride across Horqin Desert was extremely bumpy. I wanted to capture the journey in its true form. So I raise the camera above my head (to create a floating effect) and take a couple of slow shutter shots.

Photographing Timberland Boots

I was given a pair of Timberland® Classic Boots to bring along to Horqin Desert. At first I was unsure about the whole idea, those boots look so heavy and uncomfortable! Now that I'm back from the trip – after spending 9 long days together in the great outdoor – I can't help but fall in love with this 1973 classic.

I hope I am not showing an early symptom of some weird fetish!

One of the many challenges I have set for the trip was to photograph the boots at location. To showcase these boots where they truly belong, creatively. Below are some of the shots that I like and hopefully will inspire you guys to get out there and enjoy the great outdoor... in a pair of Timberland boots of course :-p

It was drizzling non-stop on Day 2 at Horqin Desert (ironic isn't it). We were transported to the Timberland Forest to perform Poplar tree trimming. This shot was taken while everybody was busy preparing for the group shot.

Lately, I have developed a passion in taking motion blue shots. I saw some static boots and some approaching boots, that's when I seized the moment and took this 1/15 handheld shot. I will put the camera to burst mode and take multiple shots as the tendency of getting blurry shots (due to hand shake) is high.

I have this idea of showing agility and lightness. This shot was taken during toilet break and we have to cross over the low wall to get to the heavenly-smelling toilets. I kneeled down and waited for some actions. 1/15 at burst mode.

Another 1/15 shot with slightly more extreme motion blur.

Day 3 was bright and sunny and we really felt the desert heat!

No boots shot is complete without a good old print on the desert soil.

A shot showing the boots in both standing and seating position.

Of course a boots group shot to wrap up the day. We are the Singapore and Malaysia Timberland Earthkeepers class 2011. Look closer and you will spot celebrities, journalists, photographers, bloggers and the good people from TBL.

To see more of Horqin Desert, be a Facebook fan of TimberlandSG

Photographing Water at Jiuzhaigou

Photographing water in nature is never an easy task. There are plenty of gear involved and often requires plenty of patience and trial and error. While some of us take snap shots with our DSLR (aka shots that look like they being taken with a compact camera), there are some who will go the extra mile to achieve their vision.

Here are some shots taken during my recent trip to Jiuzhaigou. I hope you will enjoy looking through them as much as I have had the pleasure in shooting them.

Pearl Shoal 珍珠滩

The waterfall is quite rapid here. In order to maintain the silky streaks of water, I chose a moderately short 1/5 exposure at f/22. A longer exposure would have 'taken away' the hairline streaks - too blurry. A tripod is a must.

There is nothing distinctive about this scene except for it's fast-flowing water. So I had this vision of presenting a shot dominated by silky/creamy water formation. Mount the camera on a tripod, compose, focus, add the LEE Big Stopper 10 and took this 15 seconds shot.

The base of this waterfall was rather rapid, so I shorten the exposure significantly to a mere 0.5 sec. No filter is needed for this shot. It's crucial to maintain the hairline streaks. A longer exposure would've created patches of solid white with much lesser details.

Five Flower Lake 五花海

I used a LEE 105mm Circular Polarizer to eliminate the reflection of the sky on the water surface. It was quite windy, so I increased my shutter speed to 1/125 to freeze the water. At 1/125, the fishes were beautifully 'frozen' too.

This is a more complex shot where I wanted to achieve a see-through silky flowing body of water. Combining the LEE 105mm CPL and LEE Big Stopper 10, I managed to capture this scene in 15 seconds. Luckily the air was pretty stale or I might end up with blurry grass/foliage.

Panda Lake 熊猫海

The weather condition was horrible, cloudy and very windy. So I salvaged the scene by blurring the choppy water completely to match the cloudy sky above, giving the scene a dreamy feel. Combining the LEE 105mm CPL and LEE Big Stopper 10, I managed to achieve my vision in 20 seconds.

More photographs available at Facebook

Gear Listing:

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III

Zeiss Distagon 21mm f/2.8 ZE

LEE Holder System Kit

LEE Adaptor Ring (82mm)

LEE 105mm Circular Polarizer

LEE Big Stopper 10

Canon Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3

Gitzo 6X Carbon Fibre GT1542T

Arcaswiss Monoball P0

Op/Tech USA Camera Strap

SanDisk Extreme CF 32GB