The windy drive up and down hills and through many a field of blooming flowers led us to a look-out point that looked like an illustration out of a children’s book. The stacked stone houses were clouded by fog and heavy rain that made it hard to shoot but created a scene that looked unreal. Rather than make it back to the van on time like me and my crew of wet friends probably should have we decided to take the long way up a slippery hill and into the town that we were just photographing. As we walked up we were met by accidental drainage waterfalls and a few medial archways. By the time we found the others we were sufficiently soaked.
I would imagine that in the sunlight the town of Gordes is lovely and inviting. But the cold rain left me desiring the warmth of a café and a latte and possibly a glass of wine. I was able to shoot a little longer before I began to shiver too much to handle.
Shooting in the rain reminded me of me when I was first starting to find an interest in photography. I had a very hold handed down canon DSLR that I used to put in a plastic bag and run around in the rain within the summer after freshman year. I used to only take self-portraits because I didn’t have anyone to model for me. I still remember those images of me sitting on the road with bright red rain boots on. Today rather than posing with a self-timer by myself in the suburbs of Annapolis Maryland I was running from overhang to overhang in a small town in the south of France with a bunch of like-minded photographer friends.
The rain is fun and all but I think I’m going to stick to the studio and golden hour from now on if I can help it. I am glad however that I got to re-experience the feeling of trying to shoot in a downpour, for whatever reason I used to love it.
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