I woke up to rain the morning after the Camera Swap and Sale in Vancouver and stood for the longest time on my room’s balcony enjoying it. I like the coastal rain.
As Henry Wadsworth put it: “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.”
We would eventually be driving back to Kamloops, but I wanted to walk around the waterfront near our hotel with my camera with a stop for breakfast at the welcoming family-run nook called Angelina’s Dutch Corner with home-style Dutch food. Angelina’s was only a few minutes stroll in the rain from our hotel.
Jo grabbed the umbrella that the hotel provided for guests, I got my camera and we headed out.
I enjoy doing photography in the rain. I had my little Fuji with an 18-55mm lens. Fuji Camera claims that the little Fuji XT-1 that I use is weather resistant, but I still carry a small tea-towel and regularly wipe the rain off. I have used it in the rain several times without problems. That said, I still wouldn’t leave it out in the rain or dunk it in a pond. If I was out for a long rainy day hike I would keep it covered under my jacket except when taking photographs.
After our delicious breakfast we wandered along the riverfront boardwalk. Jo had the umbrella and after trying (unsuccessfully) to photograph a flock of pigeons I decided to use her and that umbrella as my subject. As Jo walked I would move around so she would have a different background and took lots of pictures. The rainy day was also very overcast so I set my camera’s ISO at 1600. I suppose ISO 1600 may be a bit high for that little 16 megapixel, crop frame camera.
At 3200 ISO I can see lots of noise in both the colour and black and white images I chose to crop and enlarge on my computer display. Nevertheless the black and white images do look good because the grain adds texture to the rainy day.
Making exposures on an overcast day with flat rainy light is probably the best way to get lots of colour. There are no extreme under or over exposures robbing detail and the lack of sunny reflected light means the colours stay true.
I could have stayed out all day, but Jo said she was cold and anyway we had to check out of our hotel room by 11 a.m. We would also need some extra time because we had decided to drive Highway 1 instead of the Coquihalla and wanted to stop for photos on the way.
It was such a fun photo adventure that began the first evening with a stroll around the boardwalk beside our hotel and along the Fraser River. Then we made great night photos of the tugboats and distant Pattullo Bridge. I also had a good time snapping memories and meeting lots of photographers at the Vancouver Camera Swap and Sale and finally, I enjoyed making rainy morning photographs along the riverside. As far as I am concerned I couldn’t have asked for a much better way to spend the weekend.
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.