A wet and rainy day in Hong Kong....what to do?.....street photography of course! So off I went to Sheung Wan with the M9 and one lens only - 35mm was the order of the day...

This lens is the magic focal length for me, not too long, not too short, with this style of photography we want to show our subject in their environment, so on full frame, 35mm is an ideal length for me to work at.

There is no weather sealing on this camera unlike our Canon DSLRs, so it was time to jam an umbrella between my arms and try to keep the camera dry whilst shooting in harsh rain for a few hours.

I got drenched...as did the poor M9. I quickly discovered that the M9 really doesn't like rain.....it started doing a few quirky things, that luckily were temporary, as soon as it was dry it was back in business.

This part of Hong Kong is great for street photography, I found the people to be far friendlier than in other parts of town, as many will know, Hong Kong can be difficult for street photographers, a lot of people are quite adverse to being photographed.

Anyway, the M9 managed to hold up throughout the intense rain all day and I was happy to get a few more gritty images given the nice light this weather provided.

A lot of people I meet never go out shooting in the rain, they think the camera won't survive, or there will be nothing to photograph....all i can say is remember what we keep saying about harsh light and soft light...next time those dark clouds come over...just look at the light and see how much more dramatic it can be....get your raincoat or brolly to protect your camera (don't worry about yourself, you ARE fully waterproof) - and get out there and shoot....you won't be dissapointed, and that coffee at the end of the shoot will taste much nicer when your wet through....:-)

Here is a small selection of the images, all shot with LEICA M9 and LEICA 35mm F2 ASPH: