I’m currently on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, notorious for its wind and horizontal rain. Famous for its stunning landscape. I have only two days here. Yesterday, it rained hard and the wind gusted quite a bit. Today, there’s a wind warning and - hopefully - less rain. It has been cloudy, even when the rain let up, causing even light grey skies over a dark landscape.
I’m mostly shooting with my GFX100s and OM1 II.
Since im only here a short while, I feel I should shoot despite the weather and so I do, but it ain’t easy on multiple fronts. So, I thought it would be nice to get tips from each other on how to deal with circumstances like these.
So far, I find it challenging to set the camera to not blow the highlights while still getting enough shadow detail for later processing. I didn’t bring my computer and can’t really check whether I’m doing it right, but the GFX should give me quite a bit of flexibility. I avoid shooting the OM in those circumstances. It’s the first time I regret not having grad filters anymore.
I had planned to shoot quite a few water falls and water bodies with long exposures, but find that basically impossible because the lens gets wet immediately. I’ve given up on those in the rain here.
Turns out my Land’s End rain jacket wasn’t made for Skye. It, and the Barbour underneath it, got completely soaked. This is my heaviest rain jacket and I’m wondering which jackets would perform better.
I find I fumble a lot more with my gear because I’m not used to shooting in this kind of weather. Things like struggling with the plastic rain protection over my camera, drying the lens front, finding the buttons quickly in adverse conditions and holding the camera to prevent it getting too wet.
That’s apart from walking over wet rocks and deep mud while fending off coastal wind gusts.
So, any tips?
I know this looks like I’m complaining, but I’m having a blast. Just wondering what I can do in the future to make things a little easier short of having the weather forecast long in advance. I also assume that even for Skye, the last days were not normal, with amber and yellow wind warning and cancelled ferry services.
I was in Skye exactly one year ago to the day. We had rain, some wind, and a hail incident, but it sounds like the wind you are experiencing is more severe. I used spikes on my tripod to get into the mud. I also would weight the tripod by hanging my camera backpack on the hook below the apex if there was wind. If it's really windy and you are waiting for lulls to take a shot, keep your hand on the tripod at all times so it doesn't blow over. I also kept a small microfiber towel in my jacket pocket that I could wipe any rain drops off the lens filter between shots. I used rain covers for the cameras as well. I wore waterproof high top hiking boots which worked out fine in the mud. An alternative that I've used in the winter in Iceland are calf height neoprene mud boots. Regarding rain jacket and pants, I used a higher end REI model which worked well (I don't think REI sells in Europe). However, I've found any of the "breathable" rain gear will soak through given enough time. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
