Thinking Inside the Box

Thinking inside the box.

Maybe I need to set the scene first. After several mostly clear days in Acadia last month a Nor'easter blew in and did it bring the rain. I photograph in the rain. I also always go out on a photo trip regardless of the weather. This rain was a challenge though. Buckets of rain and wind gusting past 40mph made things really tough.

After waiting out the gray light of dawn I sat up my tripod put on the camera and used a large plastic bag as a rain cover. It worked ok at first but after several stops and some walking it was starting to be a losing battle to the wind and rain.

Not wanting to give in yet plus wanting to drive up Cadillac Mountain, I did a little thinking inside the box. Here is where the car came in. My rental car had rear windows the rolled down all the way. So I rigged the tripod in the back seat facing out the passengers rear window. This allowed me to be able to operate it in Live View mode from the drivers seat. I could photograph from the car.

Viola-a dry place to shoot from!

Now, I was ready to go, all I had to do was stop and aim the side of the car at what I wanted to photograph. Roll down the rear window. Focus with Live View. Get the image.

It actually worked out quite well. I was a bit more limited in what I could photograph but I made up for distance from the road with distance on the road.

This plan worked great in the sheltered forest and even worked out on the more open Cadillac Mountain. The winds were worse there but I was able to make images and stay dry.

I was the only fool, er photographer, out on the mountain that day.

Here are a couple of images from the mountain. First up the lead image of the waterfall. I had seen a trickle of water here when it was sunny. However, with all the rain from the Nor'easter, it was a raging waterfall. A rare moment and one I was happy to photograph.

I also spied this lone tree. A day earlier it was full of fall color, but the wind and rain had claimed most of its leaves. I hoped a long exposure would show the full fury of the storm.

Challenging weather conditions turned out to be a fun morning where I was able to photograph. It might be a popular thing to say think outside the box. On this day however it was thinking inside the box that really paid off!