Shooting in a Hurricane

A

arpinum

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I'm in the DC Metro area and am contemplating how best to use the upcoming hurricane. Dramatic lighting, yes, but also a lot of wind and moving elements. And of course rain in *****s.

So, how do I shoot this? I have a few locations picked out around me, but I don't think i'll be anywhere with vistas.
How to best resolve the rays of light?
Keep detail and good tone separation in the sky,
Use/capture the rain?
Good shutter speeds to capture motion in the trees and bushes?

I'll be using film, 6x7 and 35mm b&w. Any specific film/ developers to recommend? Filters?
 
arpinum said:
I'm in the DC Metro area and am contemplating how best to use the upcoming hurricane. Dramatic lighting, yes, but also a lot of wind and moving elements. And of course rain in *****s.

So, how do I shoot this? I have a few locations picked out around me, but I don't think i'll be anywhere with vistas.
How to best resolve the rays of light?
Keep detail and good tone separation in the sky,
Use/capture the rain?
Good shutter speeds to capture motion in the trees and bushes?

I'll be using film, 6x7 and 35mm b&w. Any specific film/ developers to recommend? Filters?
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Unless you are way to the east of D.C., I suspect you will miss the full force of the storm.. That's a very good thing.

My first inclination is to suggest you stay inside and watch it on the TV.

I think your best chances for dramatic photos will be as the storm approaches and as it leaves. Otherwise, if you are actually beneath the storm's cloud bands, you'll very likely see extreme overcast and thick clouds for hours on end.

Obviously, protect your equipment from the rain. The wind might buffet things around a bit, too.

Goog luck.
 
Be aware that there is real serious danger of getting hit by flying objects and impact damage.

I would think there will likely be plenty of things to shoot after the storm like damage and flooding.

Best advice is to be careful and stay indoors.

BTW I live in the zone 3 evacuation area in NYC. Hopefully I don't get flooded.

Cal
 
I don't mean to rain on your parade but I don't recall too much dramatic lighting or rays of light during those I have experienced, just lots of dull grey before and during until the storm has passed and peace returns.

And flying debris is a real hazard. Stay safe.
 
hmm new orleans native here... Most people do stay indoors during a hurricane. I guess you could venture outside, but besides a bending/swaying tree I think you'll just be dodging debris, trying to stand upright, and getting very wet.
 
markwatts said:
I don't mean to rain on your parade but I don't recall too much dramatic lighting or rays of light during those I have experienced, just lots of dull grey before and during until the storm has passed and peace returns.

And flying debris is a real hazard. Stay safe.
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Even when the storm approaches and when it is going out? Also, I'm expecting to be on the outskirts of the storm, if all goes right.
 
arpinum said:
Even when the storm approaches and when it is going out? Also, I'm expecting to be on the outskirts of the storm, if all goes right.
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I should be on the western fringes, and we're expecting 35 mph winds and the odd gust above tropical storm levels. Obviously, you'll know if the wind is blowing.

But... the thing with a hurricane or tropical storm is that the wind blows for hours and hours. Things that aren't fazed by 70 mph gusts in a thunderstorm will come undone after hours of exposure to less forceful, but constant, winds.

Frankly, I think you'll be disappointed in the photo opportunities, though. But, yes, when you see blue sky, either on the storm's approach, and as it leaves after several hours, you should also see less wind.

Use common sense and stay safe.
 
 
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Having gone through more hurricanes them I'd like to remember, the only photo I'd like to see is the one of the city receding into the distance as I fly out of there.
 
From my limited experience of VERY high winds -- most especially, waking up in Kent on 16 October 1987 after the Great Storm and seeing roofing slates in drifts in the gutter, like snow, and holes straight through the roofs they had come from -- I suggest that you may not really have a very clear idea of what you are planning to photograph. I also lived in Bermuda for a while. When you've seen a triangle of asbestos roofing from 500 yards away go straight through a wooden shutter, you may be more inclined to stay indoors and protect yourself.

Underestimating weather conditions with which you are not familiar can be fatal. In the last few days, the BBC carried an account of two people -- Germans, as far as I recall -- who died in Joshua Tree National Park, seemingly because they didn't really understand seriously hot weather.

Cheers,

R.
 
The approach is usually signalled by a day or two of grey cloud. These are huge systems. But I should declare my experience is from the other side of the world. I don't think that alters the experience too much though, well except for them being called a typhoon. Overhead power lines, trees, roofing in fact just about anything can pose a danger. And after an hour or two of being buffeted it is not always immediately clear that wind speed has increased. Wind force increases as a square of the increase in velocity so just because that sign upwind of you has been swinging safely, if wildly, for an hour doesn't mean it won't take off now.

Best of luck,

Mark
 
Ok, thanks everyone for the warnings. I've spent the last hurricane windsurfing and can appreciate the force of the winds and what the dangers are. Even if you aren't willing to assume the risks, the question on technique still stands. Hearing that it is difficult makes me want to do it event more
 
arpinum said:
Ok, thanks everyone for the warnings. I've spent the last hurricane windsurfing and can appreciate the force of the winds and what the dangers are. Even if you aren't willing to assume the risks, the question on technique still stands. Hearing that it is difficult makes me want to do it event more
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Just do as the talking heads on CNN and Fox do...hide behind a building on the downwind side and shoot from there. :pShooting digital for test shots will help you immensely on your film shooting.
 
With all due respect, if that is your previous experience then you were a very long way away from the storm or it had long since lost its energy if it had any of significance in the first place.
But to answer your request, use a Nikonos, f/8 and try to hold it steady.
 
I am an old Florida native who has been through or impacted by too many hurricanes. I simply cannot think of anything worth photographing. And I do own a Nikonos and am rather adventurous when photographing.

You are hearing many cautions here about the dangers of weather. They are serious, heed them.

If there is any chance of an evacuation order, beat the crowd and leave early. Trust me, it is worth it.
 
arpinum said:
Ok, thanks everyone for the warnings. I've spent the last hurricane windsurfing and can appreciate the force of the winds and what the dangers are. Even if you aren't willing to assume the risks, the question on technique still stands. Hearing that it is difficult makes me want to do it event more
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No, sorry, if it was a hurricane, and you were anywhere near the main storm, you weren't windsurfing. You were, as others suggest, quite a long way from the bad weather.

If you use a Nikonos, someone may at least be able to recover the pictures when they find your body.

Cheers,

R.
 
arpinum said:
Ok, thanks everyone for the warnings. I've spent the last hurricane windsurfing and can appreciate the force of the winds and what the dangers are. ....................
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I would love to take you to Hopedale LA so you could meet Charlo Inabanet, the only survivor of those who did not evacuate for Hurricane Katrina. Charlo is a 65 yer old coonass from the bayou. Minimal formal education, but 50 years experience as a merchant marine seaman and commercial fisherman in the bayou. (Yes, he went to work as a seaman when he was 15, transporting munitions secretly to Vietnam)

Charlo insisted we one last beer as the sun was coming up in Hopedale. We went to where the Hopedale canal dumps into the MRGO canal down in the bayou. He put his hand on the marble monument listing the names of the 200 others who did not evacuate and said "We were all so f***ing stupid."
 
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