I lost a flash for this one shot - Canon 5D mkII

A while back myself and some friends had a fun group shoot up around Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland. Its a really beautiful place, well known for its amazing scenery and views. We had some great models on the day and as usual with these group shoots just ended up being really good fun.... that was until the rain came down.

Normally its not too much of an issue on a photoshoot as theres often a plan B or nearby location in shelter. Unfortunately this particular location was wide open with hardly anywhere to take shelter. Plus the main reason we went there was to make use of the epic scenery so most of us tried to continue shooting.

I don't mind shooting in the rain or crappy weather myself, but there comes a point where a model is uncomfortable, freezing or soaked where its just not fair to continue, and that point happened very quickly during this shoot, maybe 5 - 10 mins in. The rain was so heavy it wasn't worth continuing.

My camera gear was getting soaked too but as I had the 5D mkII at the time I naively thought "It's all weather resistant, I'm sure it will be fine". It nearly was too.... all except for the one piece of kit that wasn't even remotely weather resistant, my flash. It held out for the 10 mins we shot for but once I powered it off after getting such a soaking, it never turned back on afterwards.

The only thing that made it worthwhile was getting this one shot. Its still to this day one of my favourite shots in my portfolio. Hope you like it, it cost me a really nice flash.

Click to enlarge