Silhouettes or near silhouettes can be found on days like today. Poor lighting conditions doesn’t mean you should stay indoors. I found this hanging out in a below-the-ground parking structure.

On days like today, 49°F/9.4°C rainy, I don’t miss working at the newspaper.

I remember how miserable I was driving around looking for pictures of people in the rain.

Getting in and out of the car.

Heading to traffic collisions while every sane person was trying to avoid the traffic snarls.
Because it hardly rains in southern California, the first rains after a long dry spell, creates all manner of madness on the freeways.

Motorists who hardly keep their windshield wiper blades in tip top condition are surprised.

Then they foolishly head up the San Bernardino mountains without chains.

My biggest headache working out in the elements on days like this was deciding whether to:

• wear a rain coat and risk my photogear getting wet
• use an umbrella keep dry but juggle holding umbrella and cameras

Over the years of working in this inclement weather, I found this to work best:

• knee-high boots or those that zip over your shoes
• raincoat for yourself
• raincoat for your camera and lens
• forget about using flash unless you’re able to get up close and can juggle an umbrella providing it’s not windy and gusty.
• for a small point and shoot camera, use those clear disposable shower caps

There are many places to buy fancy raincoats for  your camera and lenses but do you need them?

If you live in a place where it only rains once in a while, I think it’s frivolous. Just get yourself a supply of clear or transparent trashbags and gaffer tape.

Why clear you might ask? Well, if you’re taking pictures, in public you don’t want people to think you’re hiding a high calibre weapon, do you?

Foggy viewfinder

You only need to make a hole for your viewfinder and then tape the other opening to the lens hood.

If you’re bothered by your breath fogging up the viewfinder, try shooting by holding your camera upside down. Huh?

You’re going to laugh at this suggestion but it works.

If you shoot on manual mode like I do, then you’re not messing with your dials and settings, so you just need access to one button.

Writing in the rain

What about if you need to write and take notes?

Believe it or not, pencil and paper works best.

If you use a pen, you’re going to get burned big-time.  When you get back, you’ll find you are not going to be able to read anything you’ve written because the ink blots.

When you’re done shooting

Don’t forget a towel to dry your gear. And lastly, have a big clear trash bag in your car to put your camera inside. Tie a knot or use a rubberband to seal in the air.

Bring the entire bag with your camera inside and let it warm to room temperature before taking your gear out. Condensation will form on the bag instead of your camera and lens.

And here’s a video to go with our weather today. I apologize if my choice of music to accompany this post gets you a little down.

I’m bummed because I just lost my cat which I’ve had for 16 years.