Make it rain with royalty-free rain images

Rain images show the earth’s water cycle in action. Within Shutterstock’s library, you can expect to see shots of rain clouds gathered overhead and droplets raining down from the sky. These rain images may show gentle spring showers or intense torrential downpours, lightning streaking above the treetops or clouds clearing to reveal blue skies. Depending on the tone of each rain image, a different mood or emotion may be invoked in the viewer. A colorful illustration of a child splashing in a puddle may make viewers want to step outside and feel the rain on their own skin. A shot of bruise-purple thunderclouds dropping down hailstones, on the other hand, may inspire viewers to cozy up inside with a warm mug of tea and their feet by a fire.

Shooting in the rain can be tricky. Natural rain is so small and moves so fast that it is exceptionally difficult to capture in a photo, especially on an overcast or dark day. Instead of seeing droplets, the shots would just show a blur. The best way to capture natural rain in your photos is to shoot at night. Use streetlights and house lights as a backlight to the rain. This will help make the rainfall more visible. Utilizing reflective surfaces can also be helpful. If you have to shoot during the day, frame your shots by focusing on spots where you can see the rain interacting with a surface, such as a puddle or car roof. You still won’t be able to see the droplets, but you will be able to see their impact on the surface, which will indicate to your viewers that it is raining. If your camera has a slow-mo mode, you can also use that to get a better shot of the falling droplets.

When a rain image captures rain drops as they are falling from the sky or as they are splashing into a pond, the viewer can get a sense of the dynamic movement of the water. The still images of streaming droplets and expanding ripples may make viewers feel as if they could step right inside the image and smell the rain or feel the droplets on their own skin. Photos that show palms turned skyward to catch falling raindrops place viewers right in the scene so that they may feel as if it is their own hand being washed clean by the gentle droplets. Some studies have actually found that viewers can lower their stress levels simply by looking at still images of nature. So if you are someone who loves the rain, do yourself a favor and set the background of your work computer to a calming rain image to ease the stress of a busy workday.

Popular rain stock images include: Rain drops: Some examples of raindrop images include close-up photos that highlight the beauty in a single transparent droplet, black-and-white or colorful icons of raindrops, and shots of droplets creating ripples on the surface of a pond or lake. Umbrellas: Umbrellas come in a wide variety of designs and colors, and umbrella images are no different. Photos of black umbrellas opened to protect the person beneath from falling rain, seamless watercolor patterns of rainbow umbrellas, and simple umbrella icons are all included in the Shutterstock library. Hail: Hail images may show those frozen chunks of ice falling onto rooftops, resting in green grass, collected in the palms of a person, and so on. Rain drops on window glass: These images may be crisp photos that emphasize the beauty of the drops by gently blurring the world outside the window or vectors that allow the user to set the rain drops atop their own creative design. Rain on a hand: Within this image category you can expect to see palms reaching out to touch the rain from beneath rainbow-colored umbrellas in both sunny and stormy weather.

With Shutterstock’s powerful search engine here to assist you, you can find high-quality rain stock images in no time. Simply enter “rain” into the search bar and you will soon be flooded with rain images. You can also easily narrow your search by typing more specific keywords into the search bar, such as “rain forest” or “raincoat.” Looking for a raincoat photo that includes a child playing in a puddle? Select “Children” from the “Age” filter. Want a rain image that will match the existing color palette on your website? Scroll down to the “Color” filter, click on the little square with your chosen hue, and then take a look at your image results, all of which will mainly feature the color you have selected. If you are searching for a rainbow image and you know that you would like to see an artistic representation, select “Illustrations” or “Vectors” from the “All images” dropdown menu.