How to capture real rain drops as they fall.

[lamis]

Dear DSP people,

I am contacting you with the idea in mind to try to obtain information and/or tips on how to capture real rain drops when taking a landscape photography, freezing the rain drops as they fall.

A will appreciate any help in the aforementioned subject.

Thanks,

Lamis

[OsmosisStudios]

If you want them to disappear, then you'll want a fast shutterspeed to freeze them in their movement. You'll need a VERY fast shutter speed to totally freeze them, though.

If you want them to show (as in you want it to look as though it is raining) then you need a slightly longer shutterspeed to allow them to move during the exposure

[lamis]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

If you want them to disappear, then you'll want a fast shutterspeed to freeze them in their movement. You'll need a VERY fast shutter speed to totally freeze them, though.

If you want them to show (as in you want it to look as though it is raining) then you need a slightly longer shutterspeed to allow them to move during the exposure

Thanks OsmosisStudios for the reply.
Is there any aperture recommended ? I tried f-stop 22 and shutter speeds of 30-60 sec., but did not work. I want to freeze the rain drops as a way to enhance the landscape photography.

[Cold]

If you're trying to isolate their movement you want to go the other way: open up your lens and speed up the shutter.

[RichardTaylor]

This may give you an idea. 1/320 second.
Larger pic is on my Flickr stream.



Camera Canon EOS 40D
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/9
Focal Length 235 mm
ISO Speed 640
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Flash did not fire

[RichardTaylor]

Another one, this time at 1/640.
Really needs to be viewed large on Flickr to see the rain drops better.

[lamis]

Richard, thank you very much. I think the point is now clear to me. All of you have been very helpful.

[ravncat]

Lighting can also help alot, consider a flash. If you can, an off camera lightsource and one that backlights the raindrops alone, can be helpful. You can see what I mean by looking at the photograph posted above with the car - the raindrops lit by the headlights show very clearly.

[candleman]

or you could do as long an exposure as you want and trigger a flash... that will freeze those suckers no problem.