Bad weather makes for great images with a little planning.

I don’t always trust the weather forecasters.

I love photography in all aspects. I love shooting indoors but I’m absolutely bonkers about shooting outside on location. One of my favorite locations is at the beach – either at sunrise or sunset. I just love the quality and color of the light at those times.

This season has been delayed due to bad weather. As I’m typing this it’s raining and 55 with the high allegedly going to 60. I have my doubts. Not exactly swimsuit weather. The normal high temperature this time of year is supposed to be 73. The coming days look more promising so I hope to get out more often.

Sometimes, though, divine intervention occurs.

You need to know two things about how I work. I am a gambling man and the best pictures always come just before or after the storm. Pictures here prove that. Clouds in the sky always equals more dynamic images. Wind? Adds motion to hair and loose material. Fog? Adds mystery and mystical aspects. If there’s a chance that things will clear up, even a little, just before sunrise or sunset – I’m going to be there.

I’ve been on the beach shooting while watching a storm come in. I mean a real storm. Jessica Magary,  Maria King, and others will vouch for this. I keep an eye on it to see which way it’s heading and how fast. We get everything we can and then make a dash for it. There have been times when we get on location and it’s already a downpour but we wait just in case a break occurs because sometimes it does. Then we make a dash for it in an effort to get a shot as the storm clears out.

Now, like a smart gambler, I hedge my bets. I kept an eye on the hourly forecast starting the day before a session  to get an idea of what to expect by start time. I also have a Plan B in case the weather doesn’t break our way.