What do you do when it rains? You get creative with your photography! We generally had nice weather in our week in San Francisco, but one afternoon we had some serious rain. We visited a couple of indoor places and then found a fun outdoor-ish activity – we rode the cable cars around. We waited for seats in the right location (outside bench, on the downwind side of the car) and then rode around the city. The photography challenge I gave myself was to quickly compose interesting scenes from the streets – I called it “umbrella spotting.”
It turned out to be quite fun! It wasn’t about getting a clear photo – that was nearly impossible in a moving cable car in the rain – but about prediction and timing. Here are my favorites from that rainy day. Which do you like best?
Colorful!!
All Blue
The tourists of Lombard Street
So hard to choose but I love the 3rd, 4th and last image. I’m heading off to the UK this evening and have been told it’s been raining non-stop there so it looks like I might have to get creative if I want to get some pics.
Good luck and safe travels! Here are some more ideas on shooting in the rain, if you want some inspiration: Exploring with a Camera: Rain.
What a great challenge! A reminder that if we think with creativity, even a rainy day can become something more. My favorite is the second to last one – the woman with the blue patterned umbrella, framed by the beautiful gate and the arch of Chinese characters.
That was a favorite of mine as well! I couldn’t quite fit the woman’s whole body in with the characters, so I cropped at her waist. The characters HAD to stay. 🙂
What a fun series, Kat! A creative way to enjoy a rainy day! I love the woman with the red umbrella and the tourists crowding together at the top of Lombard street.
This is what I did after we parted ways and the rain came in. It turned out to be a good use of a rainy afternoon. Lots of fun for me, and Patrick and Brandon were happy to just ride around on the Cable Cars.
These are great, Kat. I like the woman at the chinese gate and the colorful one. Just goes to show that we can not let weather be a deterent for getting out on a photo walk!
A good reminder for us in the PNW, right? Although we don’t have the cable cars…
Easy choice – my favorite is the one with the two men – one in hoodie and blue jacket, and one in red coat and red umbrella – who seem to be looking at and talking about that picture in the window next to them. I like the way the painting is spotlighted and framed in the window, balanced by the two people on the lower right, and how the red touches in the painting echo that wonderful red coat and umbrella.
That’s my favorite…but I like some of the others very much too, especially the woman whose red umbrella is the only color in an otherwise monochromatic image. The texture on that gray panel she’s just passed even looks like raindrops.
What great use you made of a day that wouldn’t seem made for photography!
I see you are drawn to red! I liked the pop of red in both of those two as well.
My fave is the single red one….but you “made it work”. I was faced with some misty rain when I visited Boston a couple weekends back and found myself interested in umbrellas too. I decided to go inside and hang out on covered entries. Creativity is a good thing. Have a great day Kat.
Covered entries – great idea! I’m making a mental note for myself in the future.
Oh Kat these are great!! too many good ones to choose from, but I’m picking the man with the red umbrella & coat, is the other guy getting directions or are they discussing the art in the window, so many stories here, love them!!!
I just love all those rainy day umbrella shots and my favourite is the second shot of the man in the red coat with a red umbrella! I love the way the spokes of the umbrella lead me to the modern art painting in the window where the red colour is echoed around the eyes on the face and on the neck. Excellent!
Yes, creativity is all about using the moment as it is and not how we would have preferred it to be! WONDERFUL!
Love these pictures. Beautiful spots of color.