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6 creative ways to photograph rain on your smartphone
A street sign on Coldwater Avenue in Studio City is knocked over on Friday, Feb. 28 after an overnight rainstorm in Southern California.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
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Spouts funnel water from the roof of the Tree People offices into a drain to the cistern. The cistern holds 216,000 gallons of water, enough to water their garden through the summer.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
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LOS ANGELES - FEBRUARY 22: Downtown Los Angeles (top) and Hollywood (R) are visible during a short break in the rain as the region is under a tornado watch and Orange County is under a tornado warning February 22, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. This is now the third wettest season on record for southern California and with two months left in the season, it could become the rainiest since records began in 1877. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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David McNew/Getty Images
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A street sign on Coldwater Avenue in Studio City is knocked over on Friday, Feb. 28 after an overnight rainstorm in Southern California.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
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A stock photo of a rainy drive along Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
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Karol Franks/Flickr/Creative Commons
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Jim Hardie, director of park operations for Tree People, walks in their trails to check for damage from last night's storm that hit Southern California.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
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Rain falls over Pasadena on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2015. A series of storms is expected to dump up to six inches of rain on the Southland this week.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
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A security guard walks a press preview attendee through the Rain Room at LACMA on Wednesday morning, Oct. 28, 2015. The installation is located on the first floor of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum building.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
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File: A man crosses a street during a steady rainfall on Sept. 15, 2015 in L.A., as a low-pressure system filled with moisture from a former tropical cyclone unleashed heavy rain.
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File photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
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Angelenos are preparing for a wet winter. Are you ready to Insta, Snap, Facebook and Tweet? Your social media feeds will be filled with rain photos and videos. Here how to compete.
1. Experiment with layering
Frame your shot with a subject in the foreground and background; then play with your focus.
File: A man crosses a street during a steady rainfall on Sept. 15, 2015 in L.A., as a low-pressure system filled with moisture from a former tropical cyclone unleashed heavy rain.
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File photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
)
In this photo, notice how the water drops in the foreground are in focus, while the man and umbrella in the background are blurred.
Timing is key! If your subject is in action, take the picture at the peak moment.
2. Make a GIF
Rain works well for GIFs as it's a repetitive, endless action.
Shoot a short video on your smartphone and download 5SecondsApp (free on App Store and Google Play) to transform it into a GIF. Trim your footage. One to five second-long videos works best.
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Make sure to fill the frame with your subject. This GIF is cropped very tight to show the beautiful rain action!
3. Slow-motion
Tight, detail shots work best so that the viewer can really focus on the slowed action.
Remember to shoot very short videos; slow-motion will make your video four to eight times longer.
Black and white works well to accentuate shapes and lines, which is perfect for documenting rain.
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4. Use burst mode
Use your smartphone's burst mode to capture the peak moment of that puddle splash.
Burst mode is all about planning ahead: Frame your shot first; then wait for the action to happen.
Rain falls over Pasadena on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2015. A series of storms is expected to dump up to six inches of rain on the Southland this week.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
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5. Back-lit rain at night
The photo below is from LACMA's Rain Room, but you can look for the same effect with L.A.'s streetlights.
Place your subject between you and the street light for a dramatic, back-lit effect.
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Play with exposure on your smartphone to get a bright light or a darker image.
A security guard walks a press preview attendee through the Rain Room at LACMA on Wednesday morning, Oct. 28, 2015. The installation is located on the first floor of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum building.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
6. Reflections
The best part about photographing rain in L.A. are the great reflective puddles you can play with.
Move around the puddle and see what different angles you can get. Incorporate layering by mixing reflections with the scene around your puddle.
A street sign on Coldwater Avenue in Studio City is knocked over on Friday, Feb. 28 after an overnight rainstorm in Southern California.
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Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Happy shooting!
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
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