A poll about patience ― how do you wait for the wind to calm?

[Heroique]

If you share my kind of photographer’s luck, you already know the story...

The breeze picks-up – right after you’ve labored to set-up a shot that requires calm. It’s a common cause for curses. Of course, an unexpected breeze might not be bad news. Sometimes, it makes me slow down and reconsider my choices. And when it settles, I might take a shot that’s better than it would have been. But this is being very optimistic – too often, the reality is not so rosy.

When the wind blows, how do you kill the time – or take advantage of it?

:rolleyes:

[Brian C. Miller]

Out in eastern Washington the wind doesn't go back down. If it's blowing, then it's blowing. It's time to adjust the shutter speed, and push the film development. Or I lengthen the shutter time, and get all the movement I can.

[36cm2]

I take along a portable radio and play political talk programming in the opposite direction of the wind. The countervailing hot air creates a convection current that stabilizes the camera. Select your programming with care, as certain pundits are capable of blowing over the best-anchored of kits. ;)

Leo

[Vaughn]

I be there.

But a sure fire way to stop the wind is to break the camera down and put it in your pack.

[Zaitz]

1,2, or 4 I guess. Depends on the location and what I've got framed. But I agree with Brian that if it's really howling and the subject calls for it I may go for max movement!

[Heroique]

I should share a personal tip about predicting wind movements in the forest...

Since I usually have bad wind-karma, I’ve learned to take advantage of what the forest can “say” about moment-to-moment changes. For example, leaves that begin rustling in the distance provide advance warning about an approaching or strengthening wind. Much like an approaching rain shower.

But more interesting – and you have to be good at this – rustling leaves can also alert you to an abating wind. This takes practice. You have to notice when the “rustling” changes from a universal sound, to a local sound (it’s the trick above in reverse). It means the stillness is coming your way & prepares you for that short-lived, tranquil moment!

[Bruce Watson]

In NC where I live, I find that the winds act sort of like the tides on the coast. If you've watched waves, you've seen what I'm talking about -- how the waves are spaced, how every once in a while a couple of waves merge and you get a big one, etc. Wind is like that too -- you get gusts and lulls, some big gusts and some big lulls.

The "secret" is to be ready when the long lull hits and take advantage of it. That extra second is required to get the branches to damp out their motion and finally become still -- right before the next gust. If you aren't ready, you miss it. So you've got to stand there, with your hand on the cable release, and watch the scene. You'll know it when it occurs.

I've had it take 45 minutes or longer. I've had it occur within seconds of finishing my setup and cocking the shutter. You gotta be ready, and you gotta act when given the chance. Just part of the LF life.

[Bill_1856]

How do you wait for the wind to calm?
I profane the Diety, then pick the antique sonofabitch up off the ground and pray that the lens weren't scratched and the ground glass ain't broke!

[Preston]

#'s 1, 2, and 5. Sometimes I'll hurl pithy statements at the wind gods, especially when I'm in a creative groove.

--P

[Ron McElroy]

I be there.

But a sure fire way to stop the wind is to break the camera down and put it in your pack.

And the wind will always take the opportunity to appear, even if its just a faint breeze, as soon as you pull the darkslide.

[Jim Galli]

I put the camera back in the car and wait while I'm driving down the road to either find an indoor picture of simply go home.

[Greg Blank]

Sometimes I curse & sometimes Implore the Almighty ;)

[rdenney]

I find that puffs of breeze accompany moving into and out of cloud shadow--a bit of convection from the change in air temperature that follows along with the cloud, perhaps.

I keep my eyes on the part of my subject that's my "tell" for wind. In the photo below, it was the longest of those tendrils hanging down. I waited a solid 15 minutes, thumb on cable release, watching that bit of dangling vine. I couldn't even feel the catspaws that would make it sway.

http://www.rickdenney.com/images/espada_aqueduct111191-04_lores.jpg

Rick "not usually that patient" Denney

[Erik Larsen]

I be there.

But a sure fire way to stop the wind is to break the camera down and put it in your pack.

Isn't that the truth:)

Same thing happens to me while waiting for the right light. It always appears when I have given up!

I usually stand there like a fool with my hand on the cable release and wait, and wait and wait and then I say Bleep it and take a nice shot of fuzzy weeds blowing in the wind.

erik

[Richard Mahoney]

Its often difficult to avoid our prevailing winds, one just has to accept them and live with them. Adjusting the shutter sometimes helps. So does waiting. But, on the whole, I tend to prefer some indication of movement. I don't often find myself wanting photographs that appear completely static. When it comes to light I find that I'm a bit the same. I don't have a great fondness for dramatic `perfect' light, tending to prefer light that is a little flat, ordinary and soft. Its possible, though, that I'm just a little lazy, not wanting to be bothered with waiting for that critical `special' moment, content just to try to render what I want at any given point.


Kind regards,

Richard

[Vaughn]

I spent a year at a university on the Canterbury Plain -- I do remember the wind! Especially waking up to winds of up to 120mph (190km/hr) in the early morning hours of 1 August 1975. Lincoln College lost its stately monkey puzzle tree, much of their windbreaks, and the Canterbury Plains much of its forest plantations. By daylight it had calmed down to a steady 60 mph.

But here in the Redwoods, I have gotten fairly good at judging the wind-less days to go photograph. It is about a 50 mile drive to my favorite spots -- I can usually hit it right 2 out of 3 times -- that third time, I just enjoy being there and leave the camera in the car...or haul it with me for the exercise (and the chance of a still period). My exposures times are usually in the minutes.

Vaughn

[Steve Smith]

1,2, or 4 I guess.

Don't you know?


Steve.

[Brian Ellis]

I use Vaughan's method. Start packing up. The wind will die down as soon as you've packed up and are ready to move on. Then you quickly unpack before the wind realizes what you've done and make the photograph.

[Keith S. Walklet]

In NC where I live, I find that the winds act sort of like the tides on the coast. If you've watched waves, you've seen what I'm talking about -- how the waves are spaced, how every once in a while a couple of waves merge and you get a big one, etc. Wind is like that too -- you get gusts and lulls, some big gusts and some big lulls.

The "secret" is to be ready when the long lull hits and take advantage of it. That extra second is required to get the branches to damp out their motion and finally become still -- right before the next gust. If you aren't ready, you miss it. So you've got to stand there, with your hand on the cable release, and watch the scene. You'll know it when it occurs.


I'm with Bruce on this one, though instead of tides, I think of the landscape as "breathing" and I wait for the pause between the breaths. Most often, the extra time is spent looking more closely at my surroundings. Though sometimes I just give in to the conditions and think of capturing motion rather than avoiding it.

[Robert Hughes]

Thank you mr heroique.

I am too serious to be involved in lounge topics.

I have struggled with too much hot air since I had it, for two years.

And however I am not actively involved in creating usable prints or producing my own negatives, I still feel very much connected to the medium.

Patience? What is that?

[Vaughn]

I'm with Bruce on this one, though instead of tides, I think of the landscape as "breathing" and I wait for the pause between the breaths...

When I was bicycling in NZ years ago, one my nicest days of riding was up the Haast River Valley. I started off in the morning up the coast a ways and turned up into the valley at lunchtime (it was a Sunday and the pub was closed, so had to make due with a couple of sausages from a petrol station -- oh, well, a beer or two would have been nice).

The afternoon wind pushed me gentling up the river valley on a sunny beautiful day. I had planned to camp where the road leaves the valley and heads up over Haast Pass, but I made such good time and the mosquitos and black flies bothersome, I headed up the pass. Bombing down the backside of the pass on the washboard gravel (metal in NZ-speak) road, I saw a camp of a few bicyclists off a ways, but just waved and kept going towards a hot shower and food at a motor camp further down the road.

The next morning in the camp's tea shop, I met the bikers I saw the day before. I mentioned the great day of cycling I had the day before and as a wildland firefighter, I knew to take advantage of the afternoon up-canyon winds. The two woman cyclists looked strangely at their male companion. It turned out that that he, too, was a wildland fire-fighter (from Arizona, the gals were Canadian). Appearently, he got his winds mixed up and had gotten the gals up very early for the ride up the valley. They fought a headwind all morning up the valley and had made camp along the road, too exhausted to make it to the motor camp!

So why this long, seemingly OT story? Well, there is a madness to my method (or is that, method to my madness?). Anyway, I find photographing along the creeks in the redwoods best generally between 10am and 2pm as the light falls down gently from above through the centuries of redwood growth. Also around noon, the morning up-canyon winds stop and the air can become quite still in a form of balance before the afternoon down canyon winds start. A truly magical time that those who have been raised on the adage of the best light is early or late in the day might miss.

So unless there is a weather front moving through, I try to be in a good place around noon, set up and waiting for that magic.

Vaughn

[Keith S. Walklet]

Precisely! Great story.

On a large scale, they are referred to as anabatic and katabatic winds. We had 'em in Yosemite. They were especially noticeable when fires were burning in the high country. The down canyon winds prevailed in the evening, so Yosemite Valley would be filled with smoke in the morning.

Once the sun came up, the winds reversed and the smoke would dissipate.

But, I find your midday timing interesting. The calm periods I noted there were just before the sun came up, and just after it went down. Midday was usually blustery, especially in the canyons when I'd be working wildflowers.

Additionally, how many folks find that they had to back away from delicate subjects to avoid "local thermal" motion. (Can't wait to see what kind of comments that generates!)

[Vaughn]

My experience with mid-day calm is probably limited to small heavily wooded watersheds -- being under 250+ foot tall trees creates its own micro-weather. The top of the watershed is measured in 100's of feet rather than thousands. As opposed to the grand landscapes of the Sierras where the anabatic and katabatic winds have far greater distances and wider thermal gradients to give them more speed.

[Heroique]

...How many folks find that they had to back away from delicate subjects to avoid “local thermal” motion. (Can’t wait to see what kind of comments that generates!)

You’ll have to tell us more about this one!

I mean, just what is your body temperature? :p

If you’re close to a delicate subject, I’d think that simply “moving about” will disturb the air enough to move your subject. Call it kinetic motion, not thermal motion?

[NicolasArg]

My experience is that a moderately strong wind is never constant, there are always breaks. So basically under these conditions I compose, cock the shutter, remove the dark slide and just leave the camera ready for the shot, protected by the compact tubular dark cloth I'm using (I set it over the whole bellows-back assembly. When there is a break, I shoot. Never had to wait for more than 5 or 6 minutes. The tubular cloth adds a bit of surface, but it's overall comparable to the one offered by the camera, so it's very useful.

[Heroique]

...Also around noon, the morning up-canyon winds stop and the air can become quite still in a form of balance before the afternoon down canyon winds start.

A twist on this theme – an explanation for cyclical calms near shorelines…

During the day, the ground is typically warmer than the water – so the air rises above the ground, falls over the water, then returns to the shoreline for another cycle. And at night, it’s the reverse – the ground grows cooler than the water, so the air currents travel the other way. Just as you might expect, there’s a time in the morning (or later) & the evening (or later) when the two trends – in the act of reversing – cancel-out each other for a period of stillness. That makes two reversals per 24-hour period.

But reality is ever-mischievous!

[Keith S. Walklet]

I mean, just what is your body temperature?


Early man-o-pause. :-)

Exactly. Your body heat generates micro thermals that can induce movement in plants with delicate stems. Some twenty years back, it was Pat Ohara that was the first person I encountered who ever mentioned having the same experience. We both noticed that on frosty mornings, it helped if we stood back away from the subject to keep things from moving (and melting). I often would hold my breath as well.

But, for this reason (and others) he favored switching to a longer lens (sometimes with his 35mm system) so he could work from a greater distance from his subjects to ensure that things were absolutely still.

[Vaughn]

Two minute exposure -- no wind...and even my boys (almost 11 yrs old in this image) held still fairly well! Printed in Platinum.

I also made an exposure for 5 minutes -- but without the boys (that would have been too long for them!). Printed in Carbon.

Mid-day calm.

Three Boys, Three Snags, Two minutes
January 1, 2008
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, CA

[Heroique]

We both noticed that on frosty mornings, it helped if we stood back away from the subject to keep things from moving (and melting).

This is interesting – I’ll add this to my snowy-day technique for nearby delicate objects.


Three Boys ... Two minutes.

Two minutes? The 11-year-olds look as still as the ferns!

Did you tranquilize them?

[Jerry Bodine]

#6. I raise both arms up (Moses style), look skyward, and say "Easy big fella ... easy ... easy. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.

[rdenney]

...big freakin' trees

It really was a little bit of a mental shift to hear talk about subjects so willing to dance that body thermals (snicker) could move them, and then see a photo of leaning dead snags that we call "widow-makers" when they are 1/1000th the size.

Rick "glad the body thermals of your boys didn't move those subjects" Denney

[Preston]

The adiabatic and katabatic winds Keith spoke of (up-canyon by day, down-canyon by night) are also known as diurnal winds. The calm times in the morning and the evening occur when the pressure and temperature gradients are near zero, and the temperatures and pressure at the top and bottom of the air parcel have come into equilibrium.

Across the board, I find meteorolgy extremely interesting--and fun!

I still hurl selected curses at the wind gods, though! :-)

--P

[Heroique]

Here’s when the air never settles down.

The river’s current is generating a continual air current above its surface. I took this shot on a quiet & serene day – but note the ever-swaying alder branches (top center). Neither patience nor curses will stop them. A case of perpetual motion. Stillness doesn’t have a chance. Well, unless the river drops down or dries up.

An unsuspecting photographer might set-up here & wait for calm. And wait. And wait…

Tachi 4x5
Fuji A 240mm/9
TMax-100 (in TMax rs)
Epson 4990/Epson Scan

[Keith S. Walklet]

Three Boys, Three Snags, Two minutes

Can't help but imagine the "breeze" that took those trees down.

[Keith S. Walklet]

Here’s when the air never settles down.

Looks like the kind of place that would be worth the wait, and the waiting enjoyable.

I used to think the dogwood near Pohono Bridge never stood still, but on rare occasions it has behaved. That's another place both worth the wait and the waiting is enjoyable.

[jnantz]

i just take the picture, wind an all

[Richard Mahoney]

i just take the picture, wind an all

As a guiding principle, I agree with this completely. Whatever else is going on, just create the image -- regardless.


Best,

Richard

[Shawn Dougherty]

But a sure fire way to stop the wind is to break the camera down and put it in your pack.

=) Exactly.

[rguinter]

I never curse the wind-gods. That makes them angry and they huff and puff even harder.

I've found it's much better to curse one's-self for being so inept and so stupid to go out when it is windy. After all I should know better.

I've found this amuses the wind-gods immensely and it distracts them enough that they start to laugh and forget to blow wind my way.

This gives me the few seconds calm that I need and then I take my shot.

But I still remember to give myself a few extra curses as I'm packing up to leave so they think I never got the shot.

Works every time....

Bob G.

[pdmoylan]

If Hamlet were a photographer we might have had: "To wait or not to wait, that is the question". The Fates are not always in our favor, or are they? The "great misfortune" of losing an image op can be simply a matter of perspective. Where there is a loss there is usually an opportunity. Sometimes waiting makes sense, othertimes not. I guess it depends on whether I have my creative eyes on and can find fresh ways of seeing notwithstanding the wind. It always seems to me that serendipity and a completely open mind is a better approach to seeking some "definitive image". Wasn't it Porter that talked about looking down at one's feet to find images! I used to say if I couldn't get the image on 4x5 film it wasn't worth taking. I now take a digital camera to satisfy the creative impulse when I can't capitalize with LF.

Interesting discussion.

[WootSK]

Bring a field chair and a mp3 player. Prepare everything, setup the field chair and wait while listening to music. The moment comes, press shutter and pray :p

[dongadda]

I have a very exacting method. It is both a matter of technique and spirit. It is a secret.

[ic-racer]

Waiting for the wind to calm around here just makes it stronger, so it is a futile endeavor :)

I have waited considerable time for the light to be correct, though.

[Diane Maher]

It depends. Generally, I will wait. I was out once shooting with my 5x12 and a 600 mm lens facing south when all of a sudden, a gust of wind and a sudden hard shower. I didn't have time to break down the camera before the rain hit and just went ahead and took the shot. The wind and rain didn't quit so I had to dry everything out when I got home.

[rdenney]

It depends. Generally, I will wait. I was out once shooting with my 5x12 and a 600 mm lens facing south when all of a sudden, a gust of wind and a sudden hard shower. I didn't have time to break down the camera before the rain hit and just went ahead and took the shot. The wind and rain didn't quit so I had to dry everything out when I got home.

Same thing happened to me when I was trying to make (yet another) photo of the Niagara River. The wind shifted and the mist from the falls started raining on me. I figured it would shift back, but it didn't. I took the shot, picked up the camera without folding the tripod, and ran. Spent 15 minutes drying everything off, and had kept the lens mostly dry by folding the dark cloth over the top of the camera to protect it.

But I missed focus--apparently changed something after focusing. Too much haste.

Rick "not always patient enough" Denney

[D. Bryant]

Try a little poetry.

I talk to the wind
My words are all carried away
I talk to the wind
The wind does not hear, the wind cannot hear

King Crimson