Jake Catlett Photography

Panning On A Rainy Day

The weather in Saigon has been absolute crap.  I know, I know, I bitch about the weather on my blog a lot.  But what else is a photographer supposed to bitch about?  I could complain about moire and jpeg artifacts, but most of you normal people out there wouldn’t know what the hell I’m talking about.

On top of the bad weather, my life has been boring.  I haven’t left town since Lao New Year, and I haven’t been shooting stuff I like.  No fun.  No excitement.  Blah.

So, the other day it was pouring rain, and I was staring blankly at my monitor for like the 5000th hour in a row, with some drool rolling down my chin, and I decided that I didn’t care about anything else except going out and getting some FUN shots.  And what could be more fun than panning in the rain?

In the western world the idea of driving around on a motorbike in the rain sounds completely insane.  I distinctly remember bikers hanging out under overpasses and viaducts, waiting impatiently for the rain to cease and desist.  However here in Vietnam practically everybody gets where they’re going on a bike.  Over 90% of vehicles on the road are motorbikes.  So, you know – the country can’t just come to a standstill when it’s raining, especially since it’s raining about half of the year.  So, everybody just puts on a cheap plastic poncho and goes about their daily lives.  It sucks when you have to go somewhere and deal with it.  It’s pretty cool when you’re standing underneath an awning and you know what to do with a camera set on a slow shutter speed.