Downstream
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nandicmb
September 24, 2015
Congratulations on your Contest Finalist win in Best Water Shots 2015 Photo Contest!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this pic on a country estate not far from my home in Scotland. I was out walking my dogs at the time, it had been raining the past few days, which is pretty normal for Scotland, and came across this huge, puddle that was on the path, overhung by trees. My dogs, being dogs, went straight for it and jumped in, stirring up the mud in the waterTime
I'm usually up and about early with my dogs but this shot was taken at midday, when the sun (yep, we have the sun over here) was high above. I noticed the different shades and patterns that were being kicked up by my dogs jumping about in this puddle and liked the effect that this, combined with the sunlight createdLighting
I'm a big fan of black and white, monochrome or whatever it is the professionals call it, so when I look for a picture, I always try to imagine what it would look like in black and white. It's usually easier said than done to transfer the image I have in my mind's eye down onto a tangible source, but this shot came out better than I could have thought. Does that answer any questions about lighting? Probably notEquipment
I have no formal training in photography and wouldn't pretend to have. I'm also usually broke for bread so have no professional photographic equipment. This shot, like most if not all of my shots, was taken on a phone (sorry, all you purists). I never said I was a photographer, I just love photography, and if any of my shots come out better than expected, I can only put it down to beginners luck and a desire to take half - decent photographs.Inspiration
As I said, I liked the effect that was created by my dogs kicking up the mud and water and the two combining into swirls and eddies. The sunlight completed the effect. The solitary leaf in the shot was being tossed about and I just thought, 'that might make a good pic.' It was as simple as that. I waited for my dogs to get bored of playing in this puddle, let the water settle a bit, got my angle and took the shotEditing
I'm very new to any kind of photography, and also to Photoshop and Lightroom. If I remember correctly, I did a little bit of contrast and light adjustment, changed the shot to black and white, some erasing of little bits of twigs (not enough, I can see) and some cropping. That was about it. It was a case of 'suck it and see.' I had no formal plan on how to connect my mind's eye image to the screenIn my camera bag
I don't have a bag. My phone fits in my pocketFeedback
I'm probably not one for giving any photographers advice, but if pushed I would say, keep your eyes open for the unusual in the most ordinary of places, give your imagination freedom to do its own thing and if you get excited about a particular shot you're about to take, then maybe you're on to something. And maybe take your dogs out with you
