Photographing lightning while raining

What do you use to photograph lightning to protect the glass on the lens while its raining?
We are now having a lightning with rain.
There was no period prior to the rain to get any pics of lightning
I can get my camera and the perimeter of my lense covered but how do I keep the rain off the glass of my lens?
Tia

An umbrella

Or a camera raincoat.

But I assume you're going to use long exposures, perhaps 15-30 seconds, to capture the lightning. So you'll be setup on a tripod and not mobile. So no reason not to go with the simple and cheap solution of holding an umbrella over the camera. You might even have enough room to keep yourself dry with a big enough umbrella.

Yes, hold a metal stick up over your head in the middle of a lightning storm...

Always try to shoot from adequate cover, preferably a closed building. Don't shelter under trees or under open structures like pergolas.

Just remember that no shot is worth your life, so try to be sensible out there. Strikes can and do happen.

Consider putting your camera on a tripod with a rain cover and triggering it with a remote control instead from the safety of cover.

I'm not sure why standing still with a camera taking photos under and umbrella would be riskier than walking down the street, through the mall parking lot or standing at a bus stop with an umbrella. But by all means if there's a suitable building, bunker or bomb shelter available than do take cover.

Ontario55 wrote in post #17956415
What do you use to photograph lightning to protect the glass on the lens while its raining?
We are now having a lightning with rain.
There was no period prior to the rain to get any pics of lightning
I can get my camera and the perimeter of my lense covered but how do I keep the rain off the glass of my lens?
Tia

Heya,

Rain coat sleave over camera & lens.
Very long lens hood works better than a filter cover (which will just hold water beads and ruin the image).

Very best,

I would use a combination of the things mentioned above. A lens hood will get you most of the way there. But combine it with a rain coat for the camera and lens (these usually attach at the end of the lens hood), and an umbrella to keep yourself and some of the water off the camera.

All that being said, 98kellrs is right: you really should avoid being outdoors in a thunderstorm. Being outdoors walking when you have to be is one thing, but being outdoors just trying to capture lightning when you are in the midst of the storm is another. Just remember, that lightning can strike up to 10 miles away from a storm.

To avoid being out in the storm, you should find cover while photographing and try to photograph from outside the storm. Rain can blur the view of lightning, so it's best to capture photos before the rain starts. I'm usually out ahead of a storm, and will take photographs until it starts to rain. To take photos over a longer period of time, you can be mobile and keep driving to a new position ahead of the storm you are following. Keep in mind that storms can be moving very quickly though (45 mph or faster), so this might not be possible depending on the storm you are tracking.

Places of cover that work well for photography are wall-less shelters at parks (think gazebos or food areas) and buildings with large overhangs like you would find at schools. In a pinch, you can even take shelter in your car. This works well if you have an SUV or something where the back tailgate will go up to shelter from rain getting inside. Make sure you aren't touching any of the metal car frame.