Advice wanted: Shooting outdoors in the rain

This coming weekend I'm going to a large Jeep vehicle show on one of the Jersey shore boardwalks. There will be over 200 vehicles, and between the two clubs I participate in, about 30 people I know. I'd planned on taking photos of all 200 Jeeps and make them available for personal use in limited resolution for free download, or a small fee for prints and full-resolution downloads.

Problem is that rain is currently predicted and I'm thinking about how to handle lighting the vehicles. My original plan was to shoot after 7PM when the sunlight is low to be able to get the lights of the boardwalk attractions out-of-focus behind the vehicles, using AB800's with one silver and one white 48" umbrella to light the vehicles. But with the prospect of rain I think I'll leave the AB800's and 48" umbrellas at home and shoot with smaller, less expensive umbrellas (in case they get ruined) and speedlights instead.

I'll be using my 70D with a T2i as backup inside a Op/Tech rain sleeve. To keep things simple I'm going to use my Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, and will put a B&W MRC UV filter and rubber lens hood on to protect the front element. Not sure if I'm going to use the viewfinder or a LCD magnifier/loupe in LiveVew. The camera will be mounted on a tripod. I think I've got the camera protection figured out, but suggestions for improvement would be welcome.

What I'm worried about is protecting the speedlights. I've got a 580EX and two YN565's with four RF603's. I plan on using two of the speedlights with cheap 33" umbrellas, one on an 8' pole held by an assistant, the other on a short pole held by another assistant. My concern is how to keep the speedlights and triggers dry? Can I just put them in ziplock bags and duct tape the bottom? Will that affect the color temperature of the flash? I'm already going to be fighting with color balance between what daylight is left and the mixed artificial lighting on the boardwalk.

Ziplock bags will be fine. I use clear plastic liners for office wastebaskets; they're not as thick as ziplock bags, so they're more flexible; more importantly, they're longer and narrower so they easily cover the full light & trigger, and a good portion of the stand. I don't even bother with a huge amount of duct tape at the bottom, just one quick wrap around the bottom with painter's tape. You're (presumably) not dunking them in the ocean, so perfect watertightness isn't absolutely necessary.

The umbrellas will be just fine afterward, as long as you let them dry thoroughly before folding and storing. Depending on your ambient humidity, give 'em a couple days, maybe. I folded one up too early and there was still a little water left in the center pole, which caused some surface rust.

The 70D has pretty good weather sealing - maybe not as good as the real pro bodies, but it's not going to melt if a couple drops get on it. Dunno about the Tamron lens, I'd be surprised if it doesn't have something. The OpTech rain sleeve should be adequate.

Have a couple dry towels in your car so you can dry off the gear as soon as you remove it from their raincoats.

I'm concerned about your timing. Dunno if you've done this before. The sunlight changes FAST during golden hour, and once it's gone it's gone. 200 Jeeps between 7pm and sunset, that's gonna be real tough. Are you walking and resetting and shooting for each one, or are they driving assembly-line-style through your pre-set "portrait booth?"

nathancarter wrote in post #16961466
Ziplock bags will be fine. I use clear plastic liners for office wastebaskets; they're not as thick as ziplock bags, so they're more flexible; more importantly, they're longer and narrower so they easily cover the full light & trigger, and a good portion of the stand. I don't even bother with a huge amount of duct tape at the bottom, just one quick wrap around the bottom with painter's tape. You're (presumably) not dunking them in the ocean, so perfect watertightness isn't absolutely necessary.

The umbrellas will be just fine afterward, as long as you let them dry thoroughly before folding and storing. Depending on your ambient humidity, give 'em a couple days, maybe. I folded one up too early and there was still a little water left in the center pole, which caused some surface rust.

The 70D has pretty good weather sealing - maybe not as good as the real pro bodies, but it's not going to melt if a couple drops get on it. Dunno about the Tamron lens, I'd be surprised if it doesn't have something. The OpTech rain sleeve should be adequate.

Have a couple dry towels in your car so you can dry off the gear as soon as you remove it from their raincoats.

I'm concerned about your timing. Dunno if you've done this before. The sunlight changes FAST during golden hour, and once it's gone it's gone. 200 Jeeps between 7pm and sunset, that's gonna be real tough. Are you walking and resetting and shooting for each one, or are they driving assembly-line-style through your pre-set "portrait booth?"

Thanks for your advice. I just stuffed a handful of trash bin liners in my bag so I don't forget them. And I'll make sure to leave the umbrellas open until they are completely dry.

I agree with your concern about the timing. I shot a prior Jeep event and got all 40 vehicles in about half an hour, though that was using daylight instead of speedlights. The vehicles are lined-up almost as close as being in a parking lot. Simply focus, shoot, take 4 steps and repeat. Just like shooting ID portraits but without worrying about the "tilt your head and smile" and watching for blinks. The flashes will be constant distance and power ratio, and I'll chimp on the shutter speed as I go along as the sunlight changes to keep the background a stop or two darker than the vehicle.

Worst case is I get pics of all the people I know and as many of the others as possible. I'm not officially shooting for the event, they don't have photography covered. I've talked to the organizer and they're interested for next year, but we'll both see how it works out this year before making any decisions.

If it rains, take umbrella in one hand, camera with flash to another one.

kf095 wrote in post #16962868
If it rains, take umbrella in one hand, camera with flash to another one.

That would make an interesting "behind the scenes" shot, with rain umbrellas over lighting umbrellas.