Photography in the rain

The rain takes care of it

You can wait until the rain stops. But quite a lot changes on the street during a shower. People pick up their pace, linger under an awning, or hesitate at an entrance. The obvious route across the street suddenly becomes a decision.

Rain takes over some of the directing. That makes the street less predictable, which gives you something to work with as a street photographer. Watch someone standing just under a shelter. Sometimes their posture already tells you they’re about to leave.

The light helps, too. Rain means soft light, without harsh shadows. That lets you look at small differences in posture and how people act in relation to one another. Plenty is happening, even without a striking patch of light on the sidewalk.

Find a place where someone has to choose

A station exit, a bus stop, or a crosswalk: these are places where people have to make a quick decision. Wait or keep walking? Stay under that umbrella or make a short run for it?

Choose a spot like that and watch what happens first. At a storefront, you might mostly see people looking for shelter. At the edge of a market, umbrellas gather. You don’t have to cover all those places in one afternoon. One spot where something is happening is enough to start with.

Stay there for a while. If you keep walking, you’re constantly changing your background and the direction you’re looking. Staying in one place lets you choose a composition and wait to see who appears in it.

Pay attention to the moment before someone moves. Someone who is hesitating may have a more interesting posture than someone already on their way. Try photographing both moments and compare what changes in the photo.

Under the awning

The edges of the street are interesting when it rains. Under an awning, in a recessed doorway, just inside an entrance. Those in-between places where you’re already outside, but not quite.

People gather there who would otherwise just keep walking. One stays put, another steps into the rain. That transition gives you something concrete to watch for.

Look at what the edge of that shelter does for your composition, too. An entrance can form a frame. An awning can define the top edge of your photo. Choose a position where those shapes help keep the attention on the person.

You don’t have to follow everyone after that. Let the street come to you. That sounds relaxed. You still have to pay attention.

A puddle isn’t a photo yet

A reflection can add another layer to your photo. You see someone on the street and part of that person in the water at the same time. Or you let the reflection add something to what’s happening above the puddle.

Try crouching a little lower or moving a short distance. Look at how the balance between the reflection and the rest of the photo changes. Do you want to show both clearly, or is a bit of reflection enough?

Twenty photos of upside-down buildings in puddles are still twenty photos. Whether that gives you twenty interesting photos is another question.

So look beyond the reflective surface. Wait for someone to walk past, for example, and see what that person adds. If the reflection and the passerby work together, that puddle has a role in your composition. And sometimes the photo simply works better without it.

Umbrellas and hidden faces

Umbrellas give you shapes, colors, and repetition. One yellow umbrella among several black ones can be enough to draw your attention somewhere. Several umbrellas can create a rhythm, especially when they partially overlap.

They also hide faces. That makes body language more important. Look at the position of someone’s legs, their raised shoulders, or the way they peer out from under an umbrella. You can say a lot without showing an entire face.

Don’t try to fit everything into one photo. If that yellow umbrella is your subject, look for a background that makes it stand out clearly. One color and one person against a plain wall can be enough.

Not sure whether the color adds anything? My article on choosing between black and white and color explains how that choice changes where the attention goes in your photo. In black and white, a yellow umbrella is ultimately a shade of gray. Your composition has to work with that.

Let something move

Motion blur in a coat or a passing cyclist can suit the hurry you see on the street. You don’t have to freeze everything for a photo to remain clear.

A slower shutter speed lets you show movement. Start with what you want to show: the posture of someone standing still, for example, with a passerby walking alongside them. Then check whether the movement in your photo actually comes across that way.

An uncluttered background helps you see what’s happening. If everything blurs together, it becomes hard to recognize what you were looking at.

Blur isn’t automatically art, by the way. Sometimes a photo just doesn’t work. You can acknowledge that when reviewing your photos without inventing a whole story to justify it.

If you want to try this, take photos in the same spot at different shutter speeds. Compare how much movement you like. There’s more about those choices in my article on setting up your camera for street photography.

And then the rain stops

After the shower, the street changes again. People come out from under their shelters. The hurry gives way to relief, and light falls across the wet paving stones.

Keep watching for a while from the spot you chose. You know the background by now. How does the same composition work now that people are moving differently again? And what’s left of the reflection you were just using?

In my workshops, we head into the city even when it rains. Precisely because so much changes for us to look at.

And when the rain stops, those paving stones will stay wet for a while.