Soccer Championships....in the Rain

Recently, I photographed the 3A and 4A high school soccer championships at UMBC. The first night, it was RAINY and then went to FOGGY. The caps have to be there, because there was no in between. An interesting thing happens when you photograph in the rain, with other photographers around. You get to see how creative and/or successful certain photographers are, when it comes to protecting their gear. I, myself, have the Think Tank Rainshield for my 300mm lens. Best money I've ever spent, other than my 'Steelers Suck' t-shirt. :)

Before I got my Rainshield, I looked like everybody else that was there. I struggled, trying to keep a dollar store plastic bag on my 80-200, along with my camera body. Yes, I was embarrassed to use it, but you gotta do what you gotta do in this business sometimes. If you can afford a fancy rain cover (and by 'fancy' i mean, a film changing bag that has been strategically cut to fit a camera with a long lens on it....and don't forget the hole for your viewfinder), go ahead and get one. But, as long as it's not windy, you should be able to keep your stuff dry with a plastic bag. Just...when you can....upgrade.

So, I shot what I could this night, and the rain definitely helped some of the images become more interesting. I didn't get any good shots of anybody sliding and kicking up water all over the place, which is what I wanted to get, but I still think I ended up with some good shots. The fog made it difficult, for the men's game. I honestly couldn't get anything clear beyond 25 feet. Check out the slideshow and see for yourself.