Hi Folks!

As is easily seen from many of the posts on this board, many great shots are obtained during the extremes of weather. How do your folks protect from rain, spray, etc while setting up and shooting? I'm quite a spectacle on the beach in nice weather because I generally carry my Nikon as far above the evil, camera ruining sand as my arms will reach. How do you manage these great shots when it looks like a tornado is brewing?

I am not a professional photographer. The camera I take to the beach is a weather resistant camera. I usually placed it in a zip-lock bag, and then inside a waterproof beach bag. When I return from the beach, I usually wipe it off with a cloth dampened with fresh water then a dry cloth. I sometimes wipe it off with a silicone gun cloth too.

Bob

I'm not a professional photographer either, but, that said, all of my camera gear is insured for total loss replacement on a separate policy for professional use. I carry that insurance on the cameras and lenses largely because of some of the extreme weather conditions that I shoot in.

Depending on what I'm doing, I sometimes will put a slit in the bottom of a zip loc bag big enough for a lens hood to protrude through and then generally use a heavy rubber band to snug it down to the lens hood, with the other end of the bag open to allow access to the camera controls. Other times I don't bother and the camera and lens get as wet as I do, which is pretty wet for me, and to the point of water running off the filter on the lens and dripping from the camera bodies. I shoot with Nikon gear, predominantly an F5 although occasionally I also shoot with an N90 and they've always withstood what I've subjected them to extremely well. I do take some precautions for blowing sand and dust on the beach by not opening the camera outside of the car, but that's about it. I don't know if some of the storm photos I posted on here are still up since webphotos started blocking links to images in galleries on that site, so I'll post a couple on here.

This first image was shot using a Nikon N90/Nikkor 24-120 mm lens at 50 mm on Provia 400F slide film from the north pier across the channel to the South Haven Lighthouse (Michigan). When the spray from this wave came across the channel, the camera (sans zip loc bag) and I both got soaked!



The next photo gives you a better idea of just how totally engulfed in spray the lighthouse can get. This shot was taken away from the maelstrom with a 300 mm lens from about 1/2 mile away.



To give you an idea of what it's like when a big one comes over the light and across the channel at you, the sort of up close and personal vantage point...




Shooting from the relative dryness of the beach...



this was taken handheld with my F5/Nikkor 80-200 mm f2.8 AFS lens on Provia 100F. I was standing at the water's edge and sank knee deep in the cold, wet sand by the time I finished shooting a series of 7 or 8 photos from this location.

Sometimes, you get lucky, and mother nature cooperates and gives you big waves on a bright, sunny day! (Not very often, She has a perverse sense of humor with photographers in my opinion). this photo was taken from a distance of about 1/2 mile away up on the bluffs overlooking the South Haven lighthouse with my F5 mated to a Nikkor 500 mm f4 AFS lens on Provia 100F slide film.



The other extreme that you learn to deal with is cold. If you're going to shoot in extreme cold, take out your alkaline batteries and leave them at home. Get two complete sets of lithium batteries and keep one in an inside pocket while the other is in the camera. Lithium batteries put out current at a constant rate down to about -40F. Eventually, they'll get cold and you can swap them for the warm set in the inside pocket. The cold ones from the camera will work fine again once they warm up.

This first photo was taken on a balmy December day in 2000 between Christmas and New Years. The air temp was -28F and, with the "breeze" the wind chill was a pleasant -55F!



On a clear calm day that same week when the air temp was about -20F...



I was lucky enough to have the above photo on the cover of the LH Depot catalog in January this year.

The last photo below appeared on the cover of Lighthouse Legacy about a year or so ago...



I hope you all enjoy these and that maybe these will give some of you out there the encouragement to get out with your cameras occasionally when the weather isn't the greatest to shoot the lights along our four coasts!



[This message has been edited by lighthouse_photo (edited 05-10-2002).]

The first thing you should do when you buy a new camera or new lens is to buy a UV or haze filter for the lens. It is a lot cheaper to replace the filter than it is to buy a new lens or even have the front element re-ground...

I always have some form of filter on my lens on my camera and I have a UV filter on all of my lens in my camera bag.

Thanks for all the tips. Gary, I really like the last shot, a beautiful winter day. I was waiting for weather like that this winter but it didn't happen.

Bud

Thanks for the tips, everybody! I make the trek from NJ to South Haven every summer but I chickened out of similar shots for fear of destroying a new Nikon N80. I guess fortune favors the bold! I'll be there in July with zip-lock bag and rain gear in hand...

If you're interested in getting together when you're in South Haven this summer, Hanifich, let me know. I'd be happy to shoot with you. You can reach me by using the e-mail feature at the top of this post to the thread.

Gary

Hanifich, how long have you had the N80? I'm sure that will be my next camera. Any comments on it? I'd like to hear about it.Thanks

Bud

A suggestion for anyone who ever uses their camera in harsh environments that I sort of mentioned above with reference to my own camera gear. Consider getting a separate rider on your homeowner's insurance policy to cover you photographic equipment. They're pretty cheap if you're not using the gear professionally and well worth it in case a wave or a thief for that matter ever claims your gear! If you sell prints, you'll need to have one clause in the terms of the coverage waived, which will cost a bit more to cover what the insurance company considers "professional" usage of your cameras.

Why bother, you ask? A photographer friend of mine in California was photographing at Big Sur about 2 years ago. His camera bag held his medium format camera and 4 medium format lenses along with his other 35 mm lenses. The edge crumbled and all of his gear in the bag, $8,000 of it, went into the Pacific Ocean 100 feet below. It wasn't insured! Something to think about!

Gary



[This message has been edited by lighthouse_photo (edited 05-12-2002).]

Bud- First, the disclaimer- I am far from being a pro photographer (or perhaps even a good one!) But in general I have been very happy with the N80 and its abilities. I consider this the first "real" camera I bought myself, although I have borrowed others from friends. I was basically 50/50 between Nikon and Cannon, having used both in school for the yearbook and paper and the like. I started researching around 3 years ago, initially leaning toward the N70. A salesman told me about the N80 coming over the horizon so I decided to wait and bought it as soon as it appeared. I am very happy with my choice.
As Gary notes elsewhere, Nikon products seem fairly sturdy, which was high on my list of priorities. The controls aren't 100% intuitive but even if you have never used a Nikon before you should have them down in a week or two. My experience is that on full auto the N80 takes good snapshots but still allows the opportunity for creativity and learning fundamental photography as features are turned off. I have never encountered any difficulty with the focus aquistion or metering systems. In short, I would recommend this as a very good advanced amateur camera. If you have any questions regarding specific features, please don't hesitate to ask.