What to do when in rains in SoCal during your engagement session

What do you do when it actually starts to rain in Southern California during your engagement session? It never rains in Southern California. At least that is what everyone else in the world thinks. For the very few moments that the weather does bring down some rain, we have to be prepared. Usually your photographer will give you a heads up on the upcoming weather for the day in advance and it will give you a chance to reschedule the appointment or to just continue on with the day.

Normally, we would recommend to continue on with the session and if the day gets too full of rain, then we will work on doing another session.

In SoCal, there are usually different pockets in which the weather will be good enough for you to go outside and get some shots. There were a number of clients in which we rescheduled, but at the time of their appointment it was beautiful and sunny outside. That is just that SoCal weather that we all know to love.

Find a cute indoor location like a winery or coffee shop

If you do decide to brave the elements, there are a few things that you need to be prepped with. As far as location, find a cute spot indoors in which your photographer can work with. For our clients yesterday we had chosen a little winery and coffee shop in Solana Beach.

Since the rain is out, those locations should be pretty empty. Just call to make sure that it will be OK to take some photos at the location before you walk in.

Bring proper rain gear

You will want to have an umbrella. Also, make sure that it is nice and big and that two people can stand under it at a time. At some point, your photographer would likely want you to go out in the rain and take some photos.

Bring some towels and a change of clothes. If you don't expect to get wet, you likely are going into the shoot with the wrong attitude and it might be better for you to reschedule. You are going to get wet.

Bring makeup

Since you likely are going to get wet, you are going to want to be able to touch up from time to time.

Be ready to move quickly

In San Diego, you have to be ready to move. There is going to be a pocket of time in which there will be no rain and you can get to that dream location that you were wanting. When that pocket hits, be ready to move and get to that location. Keep your indoor location near that outdoor location that you want to move to.

We did an engagement shoot yesterday in the middle of El Nino and we found a pocket of time to shoot and came away with some great images at the beach. Here is a quick share from that shoot:

Just know that you will get some great images with a good photographer. They will be able to make some magic happen indoors and outdoors with you and they will be prepped for the day.

Engagement session photographer: Be Still Photog | Ernie Padaon | Fiona Padaon Location: Fletcher Cove, Solana Beach