What to Do on Assignment in the Rain

We'd all like every photo assignment to be totally artistic and creative - just please someone give me a job taking photos of beautiful landscapes all day long....has that ever happened????....NOOO!!!! Well I love photographing horses in action so this is the next best thing and exciting to watch...and there are always extra opportunities to do some arty stuff thoughout the day...no matter what the job is.

The four day Man From Snowy River Bush Festival began with the worst weather forecast possible, and over the first two days the grounds were covered with 2 ½ inches of rain - yep - the farmers were ecstatic - and the Festival Coordinators, 13,000 visitors and Photographers not so....3 major events were cancelled due to the safety concerns for the animals in the big wet.

But - not so many events to cover = more time for arty stuff!...in the wet...but hey...just don't fall over in it! (and I didn't).

When there is a lot of moisture or anything else in the air - and there is a lot of distance between the subject and the camera - as when photographing horses in an arena - the image will include everything in the air between the subject and the camera, so the photos will not be sharp or clear. It was all so pointless and disappointing for the first half of the event, not to mention all the while trying to keep camera gear dry, so I headed into the sheds where the Horseshoeing and Packhorse Events and started there...

The funniest thing was that on the last day there was not a cloud in the sky - also not ideal as the harsh shadows are never great in any photo and therefore take a lot more editing time to correct. Photographers are just never happy with the conditions...