Sometimes it Rains

Rain Collage

Yesterday there were so many umbrellas all over the city. Such a fun day to shoot!

Raindrop or Gemstone?

Sometimes it Rains

Silver Beads

I found one stem that had raindrops all along its length. Fortunately for me, it was isolated from the others and I knew immediately I wanted shots of this.

Presenting in black and white was favorable for drawing attention to the lines and simplicity of the subject. The colour would have busied the composition.

I shot at 1/200 with an f stop of f/2.8. My focal length was 60 mm and my ISO 100.

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

I noticed this little bird over the weekend in the Whiteshell Provincial Park. Initially I thought it was some kind of Woodpecker because of the way it was pecking the tree. After some research I learned it was a Red-Breasted Nuthatch.

It was a rainy morning so I took this shot from inside the cabin. The raindrops on the trees were beautiful little globes of light in the background.
I shot this with my 75-300 mm lens and deviated from my usual ISO 100 setting to 400. The light was relatively low and I did not have my tripod so bumping the ISO was necessary.
I used a speed of 1/250 and aperture of f/5.6. This aperture gave me the shallow depth of field I was after, creating some sweet bokeh and drawing attention to the subject by way of clarity.

Summer is Sad Today

Taken through my screened window with my macro lens, I used f/2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/25. Admittedly, this shot is on the blurry side but I decided against re-shooting. Who sees clearly through tears?

Going against my protocol of using ISO 100, I bumped this up to 500 because of the low light on this rainy day - and because I did not want to haul out my tripod.

My shooting is definitely impacted by the sunshine, or lack of sunshine. Still moved to show you what I see on grey days, I find the results are touched by lower energy yet still true to what is.

Catching Raindrops

It is a rainy morning here in Winnipeg, the perfect time to try and catch some raindrops.

I set my camera up on my tripod with my 75-300mm lens and attached my remote switch to avoid camera shake. I didn't have to wait long at all for each of the drips to drop. My problem was speed, or the lack-there-of. Even with bumping up my ISO, my lens was just not fast enough to stop the action of the drop in lower light conditions. Well, I guess it could have but the image would have been too dark to see a thing!

I settled on shooting the drop still clinging to the grape leaf and used a speed of 1/80  and also f5.6 for barely adequate exposure. ISO was way up there at 1000. Because I was shooting through a screened window, the noise was not as great an issue as it would have been for just about any other shot. There was enough other stuff going on to mask it. I did add a layer in processing to hide the noise even more and darken the shadows.

Delight in the Drops

We've had quite a few rainy days in a row. The temptation is there to complain about it and sometimes I do exactly that. I'm determined to find some good things about it...and there are many. One of these good things is the photo opportunities that the raindrops bring...like this...

After the Storm

A stormy night gives way to morning. Having caressed her face, a raindrop lingers for a moment before dropping to the ground.

The visit to the leaf's surface refreshes. Reaching deep into her soil, it sustains.

I used my 60 mm macro lens to capture this drop. I didn't bother with my tripod. Instead I chose to put my camera on burst-mode. I used a faster shutter speed, hoping at least one of the shots would be sharp. As the wind moved the leaf, the speed of shooting managed to catch a few decent shots.

I'll leave you with one more picture from the same shoot.

Fallen Umbrella

The wind catches it just right. Flying out of my hands it reaches up then splashes down into the puddle I'm standing in.

Textures and layers can join up with imagination to create engaging and magical photos, ones we lose ourselves in as our own experiences meet together with a little daydreaming.

At my hard drive's expense, I save most of the images I take. Though there are some I know need to be junked, sometimes there are a few that can not just be salvaged but turned into better images than the ones I originally thought to be the best. Not often but sometimes. At the very least, the archived "duds" allow me some playtime where I can let my imagination run free.

Strung with Light

Purple Puddles

Water Play

While in Chicago I visited Millennium Park. It was raining that day but this mattered not to the children playing in the Crown Fountain. Adult onlookers huddled under umbrellas while their kids freely played and splashed. Like the rain after a hot and muggy spell, the freedom to splash and carry on without a care in the world was refreshing to watch. Had I not had my camera safely shielded beneath my own umbrella, I wonder if I would have joined them.

Raindrops

After a night of rain, morning comes. There is nothing quite like wandering through the gardens early in the morning before the sun begins to dry the day. How beautiful are the drops of water both from above and below.

Rain in the Forecast

We've got rain in the forecast for the next several days. One of these days of rain will involve heading to an open air concert. I will not opt out because, well, because it is U2! Instead, I will attempt to put a positive spin on the whole idea of wetness for that particular day.

Spin #1 - I will have another chance to don my funky rain boots.

Treasure

She held a treasure. She held it close.