EMBRACE THE ELEMENTS

Are you a fair-weather photographer? Mike Harris shows you how to capture great landscape images even when it's wet and wild

It's tempting to stay at home in the warm when it's a rainy day. but if you're willing to regularly brave the elements you'll be rewarded with some truly breathtaking landscapes thanks to moody skies, rays of sunlight beaming through clouds, and even rainbows with the weather and light changing dramatically, sometimes from minute to minute.

Of course, if you are shooting in such conditions you can quickly find yourself caught in a deluge. It's therefore essential for outdoors photographers to understand the limits of their equipment and how best to protect it.

It's easy to assume that if a camera or lens is advertised as being weather sealed, weather resistant or dust and drip resistant, it means your equipment is impervious to the elements, but we can assure you, that's not the case. It's actually incredibly difficult to make a device completely waterproof, and cameras and lenses are full of potential weak points, such as focus rings. buttons and mounts.

As such, weather-resistant cameras and lenses are designed to provide protection from a little sea spray or drizzle, or as you pack your kit away at the start of a heavier downpour. If you want to protect your equipment further. we'd recommend investing in a rain cover, or improvising your own - we never leave home without one!