Dealing with Wind

[Ed Richards]

If you are in the truck, having a heavy tripod available helps. I have a Gitzo telestudex 5 series that I keep for shooting over fences (it extends to 100+ inches) but at normal working height it is like a rock in the wind. I also use an old technika like David, at least with normal and shorter lenses is very stable because there is not a lot of exposed bellows and the camera is rigid. We tend to only have high wind along with thunderstorms and hurricanes, so there are other limits on taking pictures that tend to make the wind less important in south LA.

[Frank Petronio]

I find a couple of Beano tablets take care of all my wind problems.

Seriously though, it may be time for a rigid medium format (Fuji 6x9) or dare I say a digital SLR. Given the camera shake, shooting smaller, at a faster shutter speed, may well be sharper in the end.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I find a couple of Beano tablets take care of all my wind problems

...I was waiting for a comment like this to come about. No beans on toast before an outting.

[Eric Woodbury]

1. All the things you said.
2. Stay home in the Spring.
3. Use a medium format.
4. When making a long exposure, use the darkslide in front of the lens as the shutter. When the object is still, let the light pass. When the object is moving, block the light. Keep a mental count of the exposure.
5. Take pix of rocks and buildings.
6. For the 57, I have a brace than slides between the camera and the tripod and supports the front of the camera.
7. Work in deep canyons, under heavy trees, etc., where the wind is low.
8. Take pix of the wind.
9. Work in the darkroom.
10. Cry in my beer.

[paulr]

wind is always a bitch, but i've had more trouble with it in Kirk's part of the world than anywhere else. i'm hoping blurry pictures with extra dust in the sky come into fashion someday.

[Andy Eads]

I sometimes try to damp the vibrations in the camera/tripod by simply touching the camera lightly with my fingers. By feeling the vibrations and watching the wind patterns, I can judge when best to release the shutter. This seems to work about 2 out of 3 times.

[Capocheny]

HDC, I'll let you know! I was shooting at from 1-3 seconds. I have pulled it off in the past.

We'll keep our fingers crossed for you.

Cheers

[Eric Woodbury]

Besides...what are the odds? How many pictures do you take to get one good one? This has been written about here before. For all of us, it is quite a few. 10. 100. Hard to figure. So if you take a few pix in the wind, chances are low that you'll lose anything.

[Graham Patterson]

Perhaps it is time that colleges offered elective courses in weather magic.

I try to work as low to the ground as the setup permits and try to get one tripod leg aligned against the wind pressure. Once the wind hits 50 mph you have to take care not to be blown over yourself.

[Ben Crane]

I actually got a decent image in about 50 MPH wind using this technique: