Like a lot of other photographers, I do “outtakes” in between shooting sessions. I was looking through some travel outtakes recently and realized a lot of them were taken in between shooting locations while sitting at traffic lights, stuck in traffic jams, waiting for the rain to stop, waiting for the cold winter winds to die down, or just waiting for the quality of the light to get better. Each of these outtakes is connected in my memory with some of my favorite images. Take for example the right center image of Vassanta asleep in the car.

It was a rainy, sloppy day all over Michigan. Our plan was to do sunset images at the lake up near Mackinaw City. Weather conditions did not look promising as we made the long drive north. When we arrived in Mackinaw City a little after 9 pm, it was still cloudy and drizzly, but we headed for the lake shore anyway.

At the lake we sat in the car and watched the clouds and the rain drops falling on the windshield. Then the drizzle eased up. 20 minutes after we arrived the clouds started to part near the horizon. The light got better. A beautiful sunset developed and we were in business! We created the image we wanted. Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate, but it pays to be persistent and not give up on the light.

The outtake of the violinist in the car is another example. It was a cold and very windy January day in the Iowa countryside. We wanted to shoot in a snowstorm. After shooting in the snow and wind, we were taking a break in the car, hoping the wind would die down.

Eventually the weather cooperated and we got the photograph we wanted. Just in case you are curious, she is an accomplished violinist and she was playing music in the snowstorm while I created images.