Taking photos a rainy morning

The weather forecast for Sunday morning wasn´t the best but I had decided to go back to Slottskogen to take some photos in rainy conditions. Most wildlife photographers seem to just be out when the conditions is good. I think that you really should and broaden the repertoire that you possess. It will of course be harder for you to produce the same result but it in the end you´ll get a better knowledge of the equipment you have and what you can produce with it.

This was the first time I got to use the rain cover I bought for the camera in July. I bought it at the same time I got my portable hide In July but this was the first test of it. The rain wasn´t heavy but and the clouds let some light thru but I know that I had to use a stable platform for the camera because I had to let more light into the camera and that means I have to lower the shutter speed.

I used my monopod and Gimbal head from Benro to stabilize the camera and they really work as a charm. This is a setup I haven´t seen anyone else use as most people seem to use the gimbal with a tripod. What I like with my setup is that I get more flexible and that it doesn´t burden me as much as a tripod setup does. It lacks a little in stability but it works if I don´t lower the shutter to more than 1/200s.

Slottskogen was sleepy and I only stayed at the big pond this time. Sadly the rain stopped shortly after I got there but I got at least a couple of photos of Mallard Duck’s in the rain.

What caught my eye where the juvenile Common Moorhens that ran on the water surface back and forth and that was what I decided would be the picture of the day. I tried several times before I got this picture. I had to compromise with both shutter speed and aperture to get the desired result.

Better light would of course have meant a crisper and sharper picture but I still think this is a reasonably good picture in total. I like when the wings gets a bit of a blur so you can feel that something is happening in the picture. I don´t say that this always is what I want but I tend to enjoy these kind of picture a little bit more than when the moment is completely frozen.

On the way back home I stopped at the quay where Säveån flows out into Göta Älv. This is primarily a place where birds congregate during winter time as the water tends to be open and doesn´t easily freeze to ice. I didn´t have anything in mind except eating the lunch I had prepared but as always you must be prepared if something unfolds.

I sat there having lunch, watching a seal breaching the surface for air once in a while, when a boat came travelling upstream. The boat scared a Great Cormorant and therefore I got this photo.

This is a fluke shot because I wasn´t expecting this to happen. I couldn´t see the boat approach but as you see the picture turned out nice. The picture is sharp and the bird is coming parallel to where I sat eating so I had a bite of luck. I just put the sandwich away and raised the camera and got a couple of shots away. I have a tendency to check the camera settings before I switch it off, so one can say that I brought some of the luck myself. This is a good habit that many should adapt when you are out taking photos. It makes you a little prepared if something happen. Just a little tips from my side.

Photo Gallery: Taking photos a rainy morning