All-Weather Photography

 

“Come to Costa Rica,” they said.

In the wet season? October? That's the wettest month of the year!

Meh, I think I can make it work.

Weather is a wildcard in wildlife photography. As much as I love taking photos in the snow, I mostly hate being out in the rain. And for good reason. High humidity fragged my camera's LCD display after days of rainy rainforest photography in Costa Rica. But it comes with the territory. You can find some amazing opportunities in icy, windy, rainy, snowy or blisteringly hot conditions. Here are some examples of memorable animal encounters in weather extremes.

A drenching rain fell all day when I took an Emerald Air floatplane from Homer to Katmai National Park to look for some of the biggest brown bears in the world. It was one of those all-day rains that did not relent. The low cloud cover would have grounded most planes, but our float plane was exempt. So I found myself in Hallo Bay face to face with this beautiful coastal brown bear. 

Extreme heat was my enemy in mid-summer in South Africa's Kruger National Park when I came upon a pack of wild dogs resting in meager shade on a scorching 105-degree day. My vehicle had no shade and I was baking in the brutal African sun in a car that did not have air conditioning. After about 20 minutes with the dogs, I had to leave the sighting to get some relief or face heatstroke.

I spent every free moment looking for snowy owls during an irruption year in South Jersey, when at least three birds spent the winter in Cape May County. But that meant scouring miles of beach weekend after weekend in freezing rain and single-digit temperatures. Worth it.

A whiteout snow squall greeted us on our arrival to Antarctica. I could not have been happier. I love taking pics of wildlife in the snow. And these conditions were extreme!

The snowstorm didn't last long, but I was able to get some pics of snowflakes and Adelie penguins along with a giant ice ball that washed up on the rocky beach. 

Steady rain fell across South Georgia Island on the day I visited the world's biggest colony of king penguins at St. Andrew's Bay. This world-famous wildlife destination does not disappoint. But the dark skies made for dark photos. And the rain definitely sapped my patience. I didn't take nearly enough photos with nearly enough depths of focus, ISO and composition. Blame it on the rain.

The wind was howling the morning I set out in in my bear guide's boat to look for polar bears on the Arctic Ocean outside Kaktovik, Alaska. Anywhere else, the stormy weather would have warranted a small craft advisory. But in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it was just another Tuesday. We motored through the rips of the treacherous channel to look for bears gathering near the coast on the sandy barrier islands. The arctic witnessed the first snowfall of the long winter the previous night, so the whiteout setting was a dream for me. And I got some pics of this bear still dirty from sleeping on the silty beach.

A cub curls up next to her sleeping mom to nap on the snow-draped beach. Falling snow won't melt on her insulating fur, but she can still get cold. This was my favorite photo from my visit to the arctic.

My October trip to Costa Rica in 2023 proved to be a wet one. It rained nearly every day for two weeks. So I dodged a lot of raindrops while trying to make the most of rainy photography.

Heavy fog gives the Monteverde Cloud Forest its name. This mountainous rainforest is often shrouded in mist. 

Heavy snow closed the 92-mile park road in Denali National Park. Days later it started snowing again, grounding even this golden eagle. This was the snowiest year of my life with snow stretching from September to April with a three-day blizzard in New Jersey during Super Bowl weekend.

Snowflakes collect in the horns of a Dall's ram in Denali National Park. This was one of my favorite snowy encounters. These sheep are made for these conditions.

A river otter pokes up from a frozen creek at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge. It was 9 degrees when I went looking for otters ice-fishing on the lake. But the ice was too thick for them. I was lucky to find a pair fishing in the feeder creek and hurried downstream, hoping to catch them when they came up for air. They sounded like whales when they took a big breath.

This was the coldest day of my life. I photographed winter wildlife like this shivering red squirrel in Minnesota's Sax Zim Bog on a day that began at -32 degrees F. That was cold!

My uncle and I explored the snowy Gunflint Trail in Minnesota looking for lynx when we scared up two snow-covered timberwolves. Trail magic!