Tip of The Week: Improvised Rain Protection for your DSLR

"Heaven Meets Earth"

This shot was taken in a light rain as the tide was coming in along Moshup Beach on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.  It took on a very powerful almost primordial feel as the waves crashed ashore under a stormy sky.  The different rocks had a chronological, somewhat evolutionary layering from dry in the foreground to a strip of moist/wet rocks a little further in, and finally the wave-bashed rocks in the water.  I love the depth of field and dramatic tone of the shot.

Tip Of The Week

If you're like me, you never know when or what you may want to shoot and while you may carry your camera with you at all times (I usually do), you may not have bad weather gear with you, or you may not have bad weather gear at all.  Rain protection for your gear can be found online at stores such as B+H Photo and Video (www.bhphotovideo.com), or Adorama (www.adorama.com) and include rain covers, rain capes, and rain jackets, ranging in price from about $20 to the $80, $90 or even the hundreds of dollars depending on how serious you're looking to get.  
But maybe you don't want to fork out any money, you don't often shoot in inclement weather or you just want to experiment with no monetary risk.  Try the home made solution I used to get this shot in a light rain while keeping my camera dry as a bone.  


I took a 1 gallon ziplock bag and held the opening facing right, as cameras are setup with a right-handed grip, and cut a semicircle about 1 inch away from the upper left hand corner of the bag on the edge facing forward.  


The semicircle should be about 1/4 inch smaller than the diameter of your camera lens.  It may take a few fittings but hey, your only cost is a few ziplock bags.


I then slipped the camera in the bag and fed the leans through the opening which stretched to give a nice tight seal.


Then simply place a lens hood over the lens and you have a simple yet effective improvised rain protection for your DSLR.


*This was for my 18mm-70mm lens.  For my 70mm-200mm lens I simply slid the bag straight over the camera so the opening was opposite the lens and cut the whole in the bottom edge of the bag. 


Give it a try, I think you'll like the results.