Posing
People behave naturally in rain because they are busy dealing with it. That is the whole advantage.
In short: People behave naturally in rain because they are busy dealing with it. That is the whole advantage.
So the face is not in shadow — the standard mistake.
Movement plus weather, shot in bursts.
Eyes closed. Simple and it reads as joy rather than endurance.
Framed, dry, softly lit.
A real action mid-frame.
The quiet frame of a wet day.
Start with holding an umbrella, tilted back — the first two minutes are warm-up and the first pose should be the one that asks least of anyone. Move to walking towards the lens and looking up into it once the shoulders have dropped, and keep sitting it out with a coffee for the end, when self-consciousness has gone. Shoot each one in bursts through the movement rather than holding it: the usable frames sit between the instructions, not on them.
Two metres back with the lens zoomed rather than close and wide — distance is what keeps facial proportions natural. Camera at or slightly above eye level for portraits, at chest height for full length. Below eye level enlarges whatever is nearest the lens, which is rarely what you want in frame.
Standing still in the open getting soaked for a frame that could be taken from a doorway. Also black umbrellas, which shadow the face and disappear against a grey sky.
Cancelling. Not protecting the camera — a bag and a cloth are the whole kit. And shooting rain against a bright sky, where it simply does not appear.