Rain and overcast are opportunities
- Rain creates reflections, saturates colour, and shifts the colour balance; a beam breaking through cloud does the rest.
- The challenge is flat light and not much of it. The answer is to find elements that work under flat lighting — a fence, a track, a line of posts giving contrast and a lead into the mist.
- Deep forest is better in rain than in sun. Sunlight through trees produces a contrast range no sensor can hold; on a wet overcast day the colours saturate and the tones even out.
- Same for waterfalls — the overcast day you'd normally skip is the correct day.
The moment to wait for
The breaking storm — cloud clearing, sun emerging — gives the most dramatic light there is. Which means being out there while the weather is still unpleasant. Landscape photography is mostly patience.
Filters in poor weather
Inclement days are when the graduated ND earns its keep: it builds drama in a heavy sky and holds contrast against a lit foreground.
Cold conditions
- Batteries die fast. Charge everything; carry spares inside your coat, against your body.
- Condensation: going from cold dry air into a warm moist interior puts water inside the camera. Seal the gear in a Ziploc bag until it has warmed to room temperature.
- Breath freezes on the viewfinder and screen. Inhale and hold before bringing the camera to your eye.
- Sub-zero metal can freeze to bare skin — be careful pulling a glove off to reach a dial.
- Keep the camera under your coat between frames if it's only going to be out briefly.
- Adjust exposure for the predominance of white — snow and frost fool the meter into underexposing. Add positive Exposure Comp. and check the histogram.
- Look for contrasting objects — white-on-white has no picture in it.
- Watch colour balance; there is a lot of ultraviolet in a snow or frost environment.
Wet weather kit
- Rain gear for you and the camera; a lens hood keeps drops off the front element.
- Several microfibre cloths — one is never enough.
- Dry bag or bin liner for the body between frames; blower for the front element.
- Non-slip footwear. Wet rock, wet timber and wet moss are all the same hazard.
Australian variants worth planning for
- Fog and coastal mist — early morning, valleys and escarpments. Backlight it (see Backlit Photography).
- Smoke haze and dust — brutal for distant detail, superb for layered backlit light.
- Southerly change — the front line itself is the photograph; be set up before it arrives.
Consolidated from references: Kent DuFault, The Complete Landscape Photography Guide (Shooting in Inclement Weather; Shooting in Winter Weather; Waterfalls and Waterscapes).