toddcliff

Flowers & Rain

Painted raindrops

Painted raindrops
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Canon EOS 5D

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 400 Shutter 1/200

upload_date

Mar, 2014

Views

424

Likes

+27

Awards

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Outstanding Creativity

+11

Top Choice

Magnificent Capture

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken on a rainy, Spring day at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA.

Time

I think it was close to mid-day, between 11am and noon.

Lighting

As mentioned, this day it was raining steadily, but lightly. The sky was completely overcast, which is always my preference when shooting nature because the colors are more saturated. I think it also helps with the reflections in the raindrops.

Equipment

I was lying on the ground for this shot. Using a Canon 5D and the Canon 100mm Macro f2.8.

Inspiration

I have a whole series of raindrop photos. The patterns on the petals of the flowers or leaves and the way they reflect and magnify their surroundings sometimes make me think I'm staring through a peephole to another world.

Editing

This shot is all about post-processing. I brought the image into Photoshop and with Nik Software's Silver EFX Pro created a black-and-white layer. I then created a layer mask and painted in the raindrops. It does take a good amount of time.

In my camera bag

I always carry my 5D with several lenses, the 100 Macro, a 50mm 1.8, 17-40 f4 L, 24-105 f4 L, 70-200 f4 L and a 580EX flash. I also carry a Fuji X-Pro1 with an 18-55 zoom

Feedback

Patience. You don't have to go out into the rain, but you will get a little wet. The best time is during a light drizzle or right after a big rain. You'll have no problem finding raindrops, but in order to capture them perfectly you'll need a very steady hand or at least something to rest the camera on. I don't recommend a tripod because they generally don't work well in close situations. You need to be able to move around, looking through the lens or at the live view to find the best composition and focus. Focus, sharpness and depth-of-field are what make or break the shot. With a macro, don't shoot wide open. Stop down to at least 5.6 or 6.3 to ensure the entire raindrop or drops are sharp.

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toddcliff

toddcliff

Flowers & Rain

Painted raindrops

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow toddcliff

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