This is truly a great "save" video because the lessons taught will stand the test of time. Your work is great, your teaching skills and manner are top shelf Steve. Love your videos and writing. - Jim
While I haven’t gone out to shoot in the rain intentionally as of yet, have been caught in it a few times & some torrential down pours. No rain coat for my D810/200-500 combo but keep a bag from a loaf of bread to cover the lens. After a real soaking one time. Great vid, thank you for always sharing.
I just saw your video on shooting in bad weather - Even after so many years of photography - l still landed up learning a few new things to keep track of while shooting in the rain. You were stating the obvious , but the obvious is what many of us miss sometimes. In fact after I saw your video , I once again went through some pics I shot in a nature reserve in India last month (during the rains ) & could quickly relate my settings to the pics i actually got. If I had consciously made the settings as you have outlined , I would have got a few more keepers - it is this attention to detail which makes you one of the best photographers & more importantly one of the best teachers of the craft .
With rain, AF tends to stay reliable enough, but snow, especially when it is a bit heavier and with a dark subject, sometimes wreaks havoc with the AF. In that case, manual focus with focus peaking turned on works wonders (with high frame rate of course, if hand holding). I love inclement weather as well - plus I often get the place to myself when that happens :-)
Great tips as usual,had the opportunity to shoot a tricolored heron in the rain a week ago and surprised that my shots were pretty much,while not perfect,as you described. Love your tuition Steve.
Photos with the rain or snow are always my favorite! Some weird of advice. If you are using a rain cover and your lens hood has vent holes where air from under the rain cover can get in, I would recommend covering the holes with something. From my experience, the air warmed by my hands under the cover flows into the lens hood area and causes heat haze after a bit of time. Then if I take it off to air out before replacing, it goes back to normal.
A very timely video for me Steve! Thank you! I hope you don't mind, I converted your excellent ides to text, and am sharing them here so others can benefit! Quick Summary Guide To Successful Rain/Snow Shots 1. Shoot in a medium to heavy volume of rain / medium volume of snow 2. Look for darker, more distant backgrounds 3. Use shutter speed to control the length of the “streak” created by the rain or snow (I usually like 1/160th for rain) 4. Stopping down gets more drops in focus, but causes busier backgrounds. Wide open gives a more “rainy day” feel 5. ISO usually isn't a problem if you're using slower shutter speeds and wide open lenses 6. For AF best bet is single point, AF-C right on the eye. Only use Subject Detection if it's REALLY sticking well 7. Use your maximum frame rate and take longer bursts 8. If the Sun is behind you, look for rainbows! Move the rainbow to where it’s the best composition.
Bad weather is one of my favorite times to shoot, I am more of a snow gal over rain though. The second best thing about bad weather is how few other people are out and about :)
Hi Steve, Very timely- it's raining in Melbourne for the next few days and had considered not going out this weekend due to it- but you have inspired me to go out and try to get some shots in the rain. Thanks
If there's activity over on Black Point Drive, that's a great way to do it. You can often stay in the car and keep everything dry while getting the birds in the rain :)
@@backcountrygallery I believe you may have the wrong Melbourne- I’m in Australia 😊. But I was thinking of locations where I could stay in the car and get some kangaroos and other wildlife
Thanks Steve - inspiring as always! I’m using a Z9/Z600TC and if rain and/or fog and/or heat haze/distortion is too heavy … the AF struggles. Using my older gear D500/AF-S300/f2.8 I can’t recall having encountered such issues. Is the afm mentioned combo too sensitive?
Great to see you back with a new video. I hope the Nikon rumors are correct and a Nikon Z90 crop sensor mirrorless camera will be released this year. Then I will be waiting for your review and setup instructions. Fingers crossed.
Great video. Could you expand on how to keep your gear 'safe' in inclimate weather (the wffect of cold temperatures on gear). Here in AK we shoot aurora in very cold temps. Thank you Steve! There is always tons of info to be learned from you!
I ran into an issue with AF-C in snow. The camera (Nikon Z8) really wanted to focus on the closest object (that is, the snow) rather than the real subject. I hadn't though of using spot AF-C.
I wish I had a good answer. My biggest trick is not to breathe on it accidentally.(you'd be surprised how often I do that!) One trick though is, if you can, use the rear LCD panel - I use it quite often anyway, and it doesn't really fog up like the VF can.
I use a 23 foot airstream (our first AS - we've had travel trailers forever, but always wanted on AS). I've had various sizes from a pop up tent camper to a 30 foot travel trailer and 23 foot works well for us. It's large enough to stay in for months at a time (at least for us - we travel light) and small enough to get into pretty much anyplace. Plus, as we travel, it's easy if we need to stop someplace or want to stop at. restaurant or something where a larger rig is tougher. Plus we don't need a heavy duty truck to pull it :)
a fantastic video with lots of great information, especially the segment with the different methods of AF. thank you so much, also your pictures were amazing. and i´m always amazed, by how sharp images you got, even when using a slower shutter time like 1/160 on a tele lense, i´m usually getting always unsharp images when i´m using such exposure time on my tele lenses. do you have any good tips(videos) that you can recommend on how to improve your shootings with slower shutter times on a tele lense perhaps?
Thanks so much! Most of what you see in this video at slower shutter speeds is supported on the edge of a vehicle window or on a tripod / monopod - that's the real key - just some extra support. And VR on :) Here's an older video that shows the best way to use a tripod with a long lens that might help too: th-cam.com/video/_EI7BCMZaxE/w-d-xo.html
Really a very informative tutorial ❤ Tempted to get out in the rain.... It's monsoon time here in India and this video was released at the right time. Well, Steve, I have a silly question 😅 You said not to worry and keep taking 100s of shots in long bursts.... Z9 doesn't have a mechanical shutter, so does it mean we need not worry about the life span of the camera as we had to in DSLR, where every camera had a declared shutter life.
I carry my z9 with a pf500 lens with camera strap to my right side so I'm ready for a shot where you might get one quick burst at whatever. So you may get a keeper shot or not if you're settings are good. How often should you check to make sure you have the right settings for the unexpected shot. It has to be a mental thing that you do so much that you're like a machine and you just do it automatically. Shots like that I've gotten are just lucky. To me like the rainbow and horse shot you got you had to respond fast and you were probably thinking about the composition of your shot and whatever you were thinking. And you got a great shot. You're like a good hunter but with a camera. This video to teaches me to be ready for whatever and get out and try something that you've never done before.
Two things with snow: Up the exposure compensation to .7 to 1.2 That gives you white snow. Otherwise you wind up with grey. The other is try popping your flash even in daytime snowfall. If its heavy enough the flakes can get big! Problem is the camera may focus on the flakes. I was taking night photos of our church in a dowpour. I took the shots without flash which didn't really show how heavy it was. Then, the flash and they were like golf balls being poured out of a five gallon pail in front of the lens. I used a tripod since it was after dark. I started out with two Nikon d300 which comes with poor usable iso. That forced me to learn flash. I use flash any time I can reach a subject. Its a crutch I lean on so badly I burned out my flash on my d7100 about 15,000 shots before the camera buttons failed at just under 100,000 shots. I love flash, especially doing portraits in full daylight. Have done a tutorial on using fill flas in broad daylight?
I was surprised you use autofocus in the snow as the camera tries to focus on the snow in my experience. It’s really hard to keep focus with autofocus with large flakes
This is truly a great "save" video because the lessons taught will stand the test of time. Your work is great, your teaching skills and manner are top shelf Steve. Love your videos and writing. - Jim
Steve, you are everything right with wildlife photography. Generous with your time and information. Thank you.
While I haven’t gone out to shoot in the rain intentionally as of yet, have been caught in it a few times & some torrential down pours. No rain coat for my D810/200-500 combo but keep a bag from a loaf of bread to cover the lens. After a real soaking one time. Great vid, thank you for always sharing.
I just saw your video on shooting in bad weather - Even after so many years of photography - l still landed up learning a few new things to keep track of while shooting in the rain. You were stating the obvious , but the obvious is what many of us miss sometimes. In fact after I saw your video , I once again went through some pics I shot in a nature reserve in India last month (during the rains ) & could quickly relate my settings to the pics i actually got. If I had consciously made the settings as you have outlined , I would have got a few more keepers - it is this attention to detail which makes you one of the best photographers & more importantly one of the best teachers of the craft .
Thanks so much!
Excellent tips, Steve. I always appreciate the content of your videos. You are my “wildlife photography guy”.
Thanks 👍
This is a topic not covered very well on TH-cam. Great tips. Thanks.
Great information! Inspiration to get out and shoot instead of thinking the day is ruined. Thank you
Another is a long long series of GREAT videos. Thanks a bunch Steve.
With rain, AF tends to stay reliable enough, but snow, especially when it is a bit heavier and with a dark subject, sometimes wreaks havoc with the AF. In that case, manual focus with focus peaking turned on works wonders (with high frame rate of course, if hand holding). I love inclement weather as well - plus I often get the place to myself when that happens :-)
LOVE LOVE LOVE this video Steve. I never shoot in the rain. Really helpful (as always). Thanks
As always great content from one of the best instructors, ever. Thank you, Steve!
Excellent recommendations. Thanks
Pierre
Great tips as usual,had the opportunity to shoot a tricolored heron in the rain a week ago and surprised that my shots were pretty much,while not perfect,as you described.
Love your tuition Steve.
Thanks Steve. Excellent, useful information as always.
As always, tons of valuable information! Thanks!
Always great tips. Thanks Steve 😊
Thank you Steve, great insight and information.
Fine tutorial on this seldom mentioned subject….you’re a fine online educator.
Thank you Steve!, always great tips
Always learning from you Steve, thanks!
Great video again!
Fantastic video. Always prefer crappy weather over good. Love those real-life survival conditions.
Thank you for the great lesson!
thank you Steve, always learn a lot from you. really appreciated.
Photos with the rain or snow are always my favorite!
Some weird of advice. If you are using a rain cover and your lens hood has vent holes where air from under the rain cover can get in, I would recommend covering the holes with something. From my experience, the air warmed by my hands under the cover flows into the lens hood area and causes heat haze after a bit of time. Then if I take it off to air out before replacing, it goes back to normal.
A very timely video for me Steve! Thank you! I hope you don't mind, I converted your excellent ides to text, and am sharing them here so others can benefit!
Quick Summary Guide To Successful Rain/Snow Shots
1. Shoot in a medium to heavy volume of rain / medium volume of snow
2. Look for darker, more distant backgrounds
3. Use shutter speed to control the length of the “streak” created by the rain or snow (I usually like 1/160th for rain)
4. Stopping down gets more drops in focus, but causes busier backgrounds. Wide open gives a more “rainy day” feel
5. ISO usually isn't a problem if you're using slower shutter speeds and wide open lenses
6. For AF best bet is single point, AF-C right on the eye. Only use Subject Detection if it's REALLY sticking well
7. Use your maximum frame rate and take longer bursts
8. If the Sun is behind you, look for rainbows! Move the rainbow to where it’s the best composition.
There ya go!
Bad weather is one of my favorite times to shoot, I am more of a snow gal over rain though. The second best thing about bad weather is how few other people are out and about :)
Always excellent, Steve! :)
Great presentation Steve
Thank you
Hi Steve, Very timely- it's raining in Melbourne for the next few days and had considered not going out this weekend due to it- but you have inspired me to go out and try to get some shots in the rain. Thanks
If there's activity over on Black Point Drive, that's a great way to do it. You can often stay in the car and keep everything dry while getting the birds in the rain :)
@@backcountrygallery I believe you may have the wrong Melbourne- I’m in Australia 😊. But I was thinking of locations where I could stay in the car and get some kangaroos and other wildlife
Thanks Steve - inspiring as always! I’m using a Z9/Z600TC and if rain and/or fog and/or heat haze/distortion is too heavy … the AF struggles. Using my older gear D500/AF-S300/f2.8 I can’t recall having encountered such issues. Is the afm mentioned combo too sensitive?
It's tough to say - you'd really have to compare them side by side to know for sure, there are a TON of variables at play.
@@backcountrygalleryThx Steve - it looks like I will have to carry both combos into the field next time!
Great to see you back with a new video. I hope the Nikon rumors are correct and a Nikon Z90 crop sensor mirrorless camera will be released this year. Then I will be waiting for your review and setup instructions. Fingers crossed.
Great video. Could you expand on how to keep your gear 'safe' in inclimate weather (the wffect of cold temperatures on gear). Here in AK we shoot aurora in very cold temps. Thank you Steve! There is always tons of info to be learned from you!
Valuable information. I use 3D focus tracking.
Love the zebra photo !🎉 Thanks for the tips 😊
Thanks so much!
Hi Steve, great tips from this item. Like it and will give a different view on photography.
Thanks Steve, very useful information as always!
Steve which camera is very good Nikon D850 or Z 6 ii
I ran into an issue with AF-C in snow. The camera (Nikon Z8) really wanted to focus on the closest object (that is, the snow) rather than the real subject. I hadn't though of using spot AF-C.
The hummingbird is awesome.
Steve, we're gonna need a detailed tour of your camper!!
thanks a lot Steve !
Solid advice as always - what advice do you have for viewfinder steaming up during shooting in the rain?
I wish I had a good answer. My biggest trick is not to breathe on it accidentally.(you'd be surprised how often I do that!) One trick though is, if you can, use the rear LCD panel - I use it quite often anyway, and it doesn't really fog up like the VF can.
Great video as always. What size of camper do you utilize and what do you like about that size? Thanks.
I use a 23 foot airstream (our first AS - we've had travel trailers forever, but always wanted on AS). I've had various sizes from a pop up tent camper to a 30 foot travel trailer and 23 foot works well for us. It's large enough to stay in for months at a time (at least for us - we travel light) and small enough to get into pretty much anyplace. Plus, as we travel, it's easy if we need to stop someplace or want to stop at. restaurant or something where a larger rig is tougher. Plus we don't need a heavy duty truck to pull it :)
a fantastic video with lots of great information, especially the segment with the different methods of AF. thank you so much, also your pictures were amazing.
and i´m always amazed, by how sharp images you got, even when using a slower shutter time like 1/160 on a tele lense, i´m usually getting always unsharp images when i´m using such exposure time on my tele lenses. do you have any good tips(videos) that you can recommend on how to improve your shootings with slower shutter times on a tele lense perhaps?
Thanks so much! Most of what you see in this video at slower shutter speeds is supported on the edge of a vehicle window or on a tripod / monopod - that's the real key - just some extra support. And VR on :)
Here's an older video that shows the best way to use a tripod with a long lens that might help too:
th-cam.com/video/_EI7BCMZaxE/w-d-xo.html
@@backcountrygallery thank you so much for your tips, gotta get myself a monopod!! and also will watch the video right away! all the best
Thank you for the lesson. For environmental shots, I highly recommend a polarizer filter. The colors just explode.
What model Airstream do you have?
Oregonian here... rain is your friend. 😄
Dark and dreary days are also great for motion blurs. Running wildebeest. No ND filter needed.
great video and tips, i just hope we have rain here in Jeddah, LOL, i don't think before October if we are lucky.
Really a very informative tutorial ❤ Tempted to get out in the rain.... It's monsoon time here in India and this video was released at the right time. Well, Steve, I have a silly question 😅 You said not to worry and keep taking 100s of shots in long bursts.... Z9 doesn't have a mechanical shutter, so does it mean we need not worry about the life span of the camera as we had to in DSLR, where every camera had a declared shutter life.
Yup, I don’t even think about shutter count anymore.
Off topic, but we have seen you in your trailer a couple times and that makes me curious what make / model trailer?
I carry my z9 with a pf500 lens with camera strap to my right side so I'm ready for a shot where you might get one quick burst at whatever. So you may get a keeper shot or not if you're settings are good. How often should you check to make sure you have the right settings for the unexpected shot. It has to be a mental thing that you do so much that you're like a machine and you just do it automatically. Shots like that I've gotten are just lucky. To me like the rainbow and horse shot you got you had to respond fast and you were probably thinking about the composition of your shot and whatever you were thinking. And you got a great shot. You're like a good hunter but with a camera. This video to teaches me to be ready for whatever and get out and try something that you've never done before.
Two things with snow: Up the exposure compensation to .7 to 1.2 That gives you white snow. Otherwise you wind up with grey.
The other is try popping your flash even in daytime snowfall. If its heavy enough the flakes can get big! Problem is the camera may focus on the flakes.
I was taking night photos of our church in a dowpour. I took the shots without flash which didn't really show how heavy it was. Then, the flash and they were like golf balls being poured out of a five gallon pail in front of the lens.
I used a tripod since it was after dark.
I started out with two Nikon d300 which comes with poor usable iso. That forced me to learn flash. I use flash any time I can reach a subject. Its a crutch I lean on so badly I burned out my flash on my d7100 about 15,000 shots before the camera buttons failed at just under 100,000 shots. I love flash, especially doing portraits in full daylight.
Have done a tutorial on using fill flas in broad daylight?
Rain and snow - I do it from time to time...
I guess you can multi shot and blend to have longer rain or snow drop
I was surprised you use autofocus in the snow as the camera tries to focus on the snow in my experience. It’s really hard to keep focus with autofocus with large flakes
I have to keep coaxing it back, although as I mentioned in the video there are times there's just too much snow - even for MF.
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As Billy Connolly once said, no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes
I love it!!
I have noticed that Sony shooters tend to stay in when it rains LOL
Not this Sony shooter :)
Fabulous guidance. Thanks.