You know that song, “It’s like raaaiiinnn on your wedding day!?”
Well, it happens! Even here in the desert! We live in Arizona, where rain is so rare that it becomes a trending topic on Facebook here every time it happens. It probably puts us at the top of the “least likely to have rainy wedding days” category in all of the nation, but just like our friend Alanis knows, it still happens! Even to us! So if it’s happening to us, it must be happening to you, too!
As weddings photographers, we have to be prepared to shoot in the dripping, sopping, pouring wetness.
When it rains on wedding days here, we have two go-to options when we’re shooting portraits outside:
1. We get our couples or the bridal party cute umbrellas and we all go out into the pouring rain.
2. We place the couple underneath an overhang, awning, or some sort of coverage from the water so they’re dry. Then we go out into the rain and shoot back towards the dry coverage. In this example below, these portraits look like they were taken on a bright day, but if you look closely, you’ll see the evidence that it was storming!
Really any way you slice it, we’re in the rain! If it’s a light drizzle and it’s only for a few minutes, we (and our gear) are probably okay. But, when we’re talking about standing in the rain for hours at a time, we needed another solution.
There’s a misconception out there that because Canon DSLR’s and lenses are “weather resistant” they can withstand any amount of rainfall as long as the camera’s not submerged under water, but from our experience and the experience of others, that’s just not true. The camera and lenses can get wet and still function, but there is a point where the camera and/or lens take on too much water and will start to malfunction if not stop working altogether. NOT a good thing on a wedding day! Now, of course, this is just one of many reasons why we keep reliable back-up gear with us at all times, but we wanted to find a more permanent solution.
And that’s where the Pro SLR Storm Jacket Cover from Vortex Media comes to the rescue!
We think these were intended for sports photographers who stand on the field for hours and hours (rain or shine) with really, really, really expensive gear, but we thought they might work for wedding photographers, too, so we ordered a few.
AND LOVE THEM.
At this weekend’s wedding, it started raining right before the ceremony. The resort staff brought umbrellas to all the guests, and the maid of honor and best man held coverage over the bride and groom. But, obviously, we couldn’t hold umbrellas over ourselves and shoot at the same time! And we were also in the middle of our couple’s once-in-a-lifetime moment, so we couldn’t just stop shooting to protect our gear!
No problem, though. We grabbed our Storm Jackets out of our bag a few minutes before the ceremony and slipped them over our cameras and lenses. It took seconds. So easy. No hassle or fuss. No worrying about our gear. The show went on as planned and our clients got great images.
Each side of the Storm Jacket has a bungee cord on it that locks (like a small mesh or beach bag might have). Once you cover the lens with that side and fasten the band tight around the end of the lens, it’s pretty secure and won’t move.
From there, just pull the rest of the jacket over the camera body and — voila! — we’re good to go! It’s like a poncho for our cameras.
It’s a little awkward at first trying to keep the back of your camera body covered while shooting at the same time, but after a few frames, you’ll get used to it. Plus, it’s better than the alternative! We think every wedding photographer needs to be prepared to shoot in the rain, and even though we live in one of the driest states in the country, we keep rain gear in our bag at every single wedding just in case. So whether it’s the Storm Jacket, or something else designed to keep your equipment dry, we encourage you to have a solution and always be prepared, just in case! We hope this helps you out the next time it rains on one of your wedding days, friend!
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