Nature provides us the best scenes to capture, and one of them is in the form of rainstorms. If you’re in the city, there aren’t many people out in the rain when it’s storming, much less taking photos. This means the rainy weather can be your photography muse, so to speak. All the more to get out there and click that shutter! Here are some photos to spark inspiration, and some tips to help you out with rainstorm photography while in the city.
Landmark Shots During A Thunderstorm
Lightning during a storm over Tokyo Tower.
Too often we see touristy shots with clear blue skies and sunny weather, but we hardly see many photos when it’s rainy. If it’s raining in Tokyo, and you happen to be within the vicinity of the Tokyo tower, snap some photos. There doesn’t have to be lightning present, even the cloudy sky can offer some great background. If the weather’s foggy, tall landmarks are even better subjects for photographs. Shoot from the bottom up like the photo below, and make use of the cloudy fog to add drama to your background.
Fog covering the top of the tower.
Macro Shots Have The Best Details
Flowers refracting in water droplets after rain.
Light refraction will occur when the sun comes out after a rainstorm. Sometimes, you can get some pretty good reflections on the water droplets too, like the one in the photo above. You can use nature’s gifts for these types of shots, like leaves, rocks or flowers. They’ll have their own textures and unique colors, too, which make for great backgrounds. Water droplets will collect on them, making them perfect props for macro water droplet captures.
Make Use Of Your Surroundings
Beautiful view of lightning over city at night.
In an urban setting, there are many other things you can capture with your camera. People walking around the city going about their daily lives, raincoat-clad or armed with umbrellas. People running to take cover under store awnings. Deserted streets as the rain washes over the tarmac. Gouges in the roads can make for great puddle shots, like reflections of urban lights or landmarks.
Aerial view of people crossing the street in Shibuya.
Create Unique Unseen Sides Of A Scene
Tower of Catholic Duomo in the center of Riga, Latvia is reflected in a puddle among fallen leaves and pavement.
What makes a photo truly unique? You don’t have to spend ages figuring out how. Take a photo of a puddle on the road with the urban city scenes around it… and then capture the reflection of the city on the puddle too. Another option would be to capture an urban scene from an aerial view or a top angle. There’s plenty of other ways you can snap magnificent images on a rainy day in the city. 🙂
What other rainy day photo-taking methods can you think of? Explore more of our photography content to get inspired!