I have found that over the years when a heavy rain sets in right before portrait time, I tend to enter a moment of brief panic and then the “I can do this” feeling sets in and I take charge of the situation. However, it’s in that brief panic that I think things like “Where in the world am I going to shoot?! How on earth can I shoot enough portraits for an ALBUM in this rain?!  Where can we go that will cover the entire bridal party?!”.  These are all very legitimate questions…. but my first piece of advice would be:

1. Don’t try to figure everything out at once! Take it step by step. As you start to shoot and make things happen, ideas will start to come to you! For example, before I unloaded the trolley full of Patrick and Anna Maria’s wedding party, we paused for a quick “Toasting” shot while everyone was still dry and inside the vehicle! That leads me to my next tip!

2. Use what you have! In this situation, we had one tiny porch.  Michael grabbed our umbrellas from our car and we stood in the rain and mud while directing and shooting the bridal party on the porch! Did we look like a hot mess after portrait time? You betcha! But they have some beautiful portraits!  3. Tip #3 would be to shoot all the same shots that you normally would, even though it’s not a normal situation you would shoot in. For example, I always do a ton of floral detail shots with the bride and bridesmaids… especially if Anthomanic is doing the florals! :) In this specific situation, we were on a time crunch AND we were trying to avoid the rain but I’m so thankful I took 3 seconds to shoot the bouquets! It’s shots like these that really fill in my blog posts and tie album spreads together!! Also, Porches are GREAT “Safe areas” to shoot bridal portraits!  4. Get creative and use chairs, stairs or benches to add height and depth to your group shots! This comes in handy when your bridal party won’t really fit in your “safe area”.  Having some people sit and some stand allows you to layer your subjects and fit more into the frame.

5. Tip #5 would be to use your “safe areas” in every way imaginable! I think we shot Pat and Anna on this porch from every angle possible!!  6. Use a variety of lenses when shooting portraits in your “safe area”. For Cliff and Laurie’s images on the porch, I used a 24mm, 35mm and 50mm to create a variety of different shots in one location. 

7. If you don’t have a porch or a “safe area” that will keep your couple out of the rain and well lit, you can use an open doorway or a large window. I prefer a doorway because the incoming light will hit evenly from the couple’s head to their toes. Here’s an example from Laurie’s “getting ready” shots. We just opened the front door of the house and I shot at a 90 degree angle from the door and the subject!

8. Last but not least, check the radar! This is Michael’s job on wedding days. He watches the radar and if the skies are going to clear up before sunset, we make sure we tell the coordinator and we plan to take the couple out again so that they can have some additional portraits! The best part about shooting after the rain is the amazing misty light and awesome clouds that you sometimes get in the background!