Here's my first attempt at simulating rain in Photoshop:

(Caution:  This is 18+, due to sheer clothing.)
glenvision.com/gallery/albums/models/Maya/Drenched2.jpg


What do you think of it?

Not bad.

http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/0 … ent-rains/

The railing needs a gray haze of little impact bounces

Yeah, I haven't tried to tackle impact splashes on the railing, floor, or the model yet. I did think of that, but I thought I would wait till later to attempt that. I also haven't tried adding large water drops clinging from the bottom side of the rails, pooling up till they are heavy enough to drip down from the rail. That would be a nice touch.

In case anyone is wondering, the model and myself wanted to shoot in the rain. There was a heavy downpour all that morning, but it stopped raining just as she got finished changing into her wardrobe! I poured bottled water over the model to get her soaking wet. The floor underneath her was still wet from the rain, and the foliage in the distance was still rain soaked. The covered bridge behind her is dry, because well, it's a covered bridge!    So, some elements of the image were actually wet, but there was no rain falling during the shoot. All the rain is simulated.

I took a look at your rain impact reference photo. I think that's going to be trickier to simulate than falling rain, but I'll eventually give it a try.

At a distance the bounces become a hazy forcefield around the tops of everything

I haven't tried this technique yet but I thought I might add a question.

Went on one of the "hollywood" tours (Universal Studios??) when I was a kid. The tour operator told us that when they simulated rain in shots that milk was added to the water to make it show up on film.
Do some of you add "milkiness"  to your rain?

Move here to Seattle/Western Washington, you won't have need for that technique. 


Couldn't help myself.    I recall a Calvin Hollywood video showing him doing a falling rain retouch.  May want to look for that.  It was pretty cool.  He added in the little splashes of the rain falling on the model.  If I remember right, it was a guy in a football uniform ... the drops splashing off his shoulders where the pads were.

-=>D