Wind can be a problem to deal with, especially if you're staging a shot. However, if you go with flow, you can use it to your advantage as well.
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There’s a very popular folk song I listened to when I was young that, little did I know at the time, would have a great influence on my photography. This is the way it happened. I was trying to photograph flowers and I needed a lot of depth of field for a particular shot. The problem was the wind was blowing so hard, I couldn’t get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the movement of the flower. Waiting patiently, I started singing to myself the traditional folk song. The chorus goes, “The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.” I continued to wait for a lull and with every passing second, the irony of the situation grew less humorous. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. All the while I was singing the solution to the problem and I didn't even know it. Rather than fight the wind, I used the wind to my advantage - the answer was blowing in the wind! With a slowed down shutter, I let the wind “Paint” my sensor with an abstract image of the movement of the flowers.
After the above incident occurred, I’ve made it a point to be on the look out for evidence of wind. In some cases the evidence is obvious and in others, some thought must go into the viewing of the photo to see the wind’s impact. In the second image that accompanies this article, the wind is the hypothesized answer to the mysterious movement of the rock. The surface of the playa upon which it resides gets extremely slippery when wet. The belief is that after a rain followed by strong winds, the rocks slide across the surface leaving behind a remnant of its path. In the third image of Monument Valley, there is evidence of wind in the creation of the ripples. The less obvious proof is in the slow process of erosion of the rock formation along the top of the photo. In each of these two wind related images, the luxuries I experienced was either it was a calm day or the subject matter was too heavy to be impacted by the wind.
In keeping with the abstract theme depicted in image number one, use a tripod as the shutter speeds will be long. The idea is to record the motion of the subject impacted by the wind and sharply record everything else that doesn’t move. Set the ISO to the lowest possible setting if the goal is to create as much movement as possible. The lower the ISO, the slower the corresponding shutter speed. Experiment with different shutter speeds until you achieve the desired effect. Keep checking the screen on the back of your camera to verify this. It helps if the wind is even and sustained as gusts introduce variables.
Sometimes the wind may not be blowing hard but you still want to experiment. To allow you to get longer shutter speeds, attach a neutral density filter to the lens. A polarizer will also help create longer shutter speeds and have the added bonus of removing glare from the subject. Furthermore, there are options you may want to think about introducing into the equation. One is to take the camera off the tripod and create intentional blurs - sort of like adding a big gust of wind to the photo. Try making double exposures where one exposure is the wind blown shot coupled with one where there was a lull and everything is sharp. This will create a halo effect around the sharp exposure. Think about zooming the lens if the exposure is long enough. Play with the rate at which you zoom the lens in addition to starting at either the long range and zooming in or the short range and zooming out. Digital photography is so much fun. I encourage you to get out there and experiment and while you’re out there, start singing the lyrics to one of your favorite songs. It may result in something special.
To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit www.russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more information. Also, pick up a copy of my new book, Amphoto’s Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.
