Giving Your Photos an Outside Chance
My first real gig as a freelance photographer was shooting sailboat races in the Pacific Northwest. I'd stand near the bow of a 16 foot long powerboat, taking pictures, as we sped alongside crazy fast racing dinghies plowing through turbulent seas. On a good day it didn't rain.
To protect my two cameras I had an oversized foul weather jacket and learned to time my shots so I could wrap the jacket around myself and my cameras a split second before a wave broke over the bow. And me.
But the photos I got were awesome.
I heard it was National Geographic photographer Sam Abel's father who advised him "bad weather makes great pictures." But whoever said it, nothing could be more true. The light and the drama that accompanies "bad" weather is a photographer's gift.
The iPhone makes bad weather photography accessible to us all.
When I shot sailing, the only things between me and two thousand dollars of soaked cameras were my reflexes and an $80 storm jacket. Today, the newest iPhone 12 series are water resistant to 6 meters for 30 minutes! And for up to 2 meters as far back as the Xs. That's no excuses territory for getting outdoor crazy cool creative photos in your library. The iPhone can handle pretty much everything that you can. Go for it!
Unless you live in L.A., weather is a fact of life that can spice up even a boring landscape. (Ok. Even in L.A.) Rain, extreme clouds, snow, sleet, wind storms, fog, you name it. Bad Weather is nature's performance art.
On top of that, the iPhone gives you easy access to tools that we never had back in the day. Anything falling from or moving across the sky is interesting in Slo-Mo or Time Lapse. Live Photo adds a whole other dimension to static photos. And the ability to capture low light images with detail and movement extends our creative options way out beyond the guardrails.
With the iPhone, we get the freedom to try things we never dared with cameras. Low light, long exposure, crappy weather, extreme lighting, and a spontaneous moment that just came along and begged for a picture.