Wet, wet, wet…

This summer in Finland has been rather wet. It’s a blessing all this water didn’t come down in the form of snow – we would’ve been buried! Today it’s overcast again, and a while ago we got a short but pretty strong shower too, so I thought I would post one of the photos I took at the beginning of July.

None of my rain photos came out as I wanted them to. But I did learn some things about them:

1. Go low!
Being lazy at kneeling or even going flat on the ground usually costs you the photo. The angle just isn’t good if you photograph kids, dogs, cats – or even stones in the rain – from an upward position. Taking these photos I went pretty low, but not enough. This photo was not the worst one, but still the 20 more centimeters would’ve done wonders.

2. Depth of field – think carefully!
This must not be too much – or too little, either. Too much makes the photo restless and confused. Too little makes it look fuzzy.

3. Focus
Don’t guess it, not even when you’re shooting at an awkward position. Like with the DOF you need to really think which parts of the photo you want sharp, which not. And especially where the emphasis is. Take several shots and check them out from the camera screen – with the zoom. The small picture – even on the “big” 3-inch screen – doesn’t really tell you anything.

Well, those were the main issues. Sadly, I knew all of them already before and still made crucial mistakes in them. It’s not so easy to put your theory into practise!