Follow the light

One of the best photography tip I have ever encountered is "follow the light" or "pay attention to the light". Focus on the light and not on the subject. See how the light works on a subject.

Every time I remember that tip (I still forget it sometimes), my photos would always come out much better than those where I focused more on the subject. Try it the next time you take your photos. You will not regret it, promise.

When I took this photo of the raindrop, I was actually following where the light was and there it was - just where it gave the sparkle to the drop. Perfect, isn't it?

the many faces of water ... raindrop

I thought since I love taking pictures of water, it would be nice to share photos of water in its many forms. Thus today, I begin a new series and I call it - "the many faces of water".

My first photo is of course that of one of my favorite subjects - a raindrop. The title for this photo is "Hello World". What do you think?

mundane things ... wire mesh

I've been trying to think of what next set of photos to share with you. However, I have not decided yet. So meanwhile, here's another photo of a mundane thing - a wire mesh.

We placed this wire mesh on our gate to prevent our puppies from escaping. The spaces between the gate grills are too wide so our puppies are always escaping and we are afraid that they might get lost or get hit by some passing cars. Anyway, as I was inspecting the wire mesh one day, I saw some water droplets caught in between the mesh and I thought they were interesting. Thus this picture.

back to my fav "model"

I felt like going back to my favorite "model" today, so here you are... a flower with another fav ... a raindrop.

Flowers and raindrops are really my favorite subjects in photography. So I hope you don't mind that I am sharing this fav once more. When I cannot decide what photo to share for the day, I always go back to my fav "model" - a flower. If it has a raindrop on it, then it's a bonus for me.

By the way, this flower's scientific name is Euphorbia milii.

circles

I was just playing around with some of my photos and I thought it would be nice to combine some of them.

Questions is...what to combine? Then I thought of patterns... what is a common pattern in the photos...and the answer is... as you guessed...circle. Thus the title.

As I was writing that, I was reminded of the lyrics to the song "Windmills of Your Mind" It goes like this...
"Round
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel thats turning
Running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Like a tunnel that you follow
To a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern
Where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving
In a half-forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble
Someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly?
Was it something that you said?
Lovers walk along a shore
And leave their footprints in the sand
Is the sound of distant drumming
Just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway
And the fragment of a song
Half-remembered names and faces
But to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over
You were suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning
To the colour of her hair

Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
As the images unwind
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind."

Hmm...I just realized that the lyrics of this song is beautiful, that's why I copied the whole thing here.

solitude

I think my title for today's photo is self explanatory. This solitary drop caught my attention during one of my garden visits. It is alone but it is not lonely. Rather, it embodies solitude accompanied by calmness with a hint of expectancy. Do you agree?

Don't we sometimes feel this too? We can be alone yet not be lonely. But we can also be in a crowd and can be lonely.

Converting a photo to a card

What I am sharing today is another photo that I converted to a card.

I took this photo early in the morning just as the sun’s rays penetrated the sky. The rays created sparkles on the raindrops on blades of grass and I thought the effect was very nice.

I found the quote from Mother Teresa scribbled in my notebook and put the two together (in photoshop).

The lowly grass reminded me that we can indeed do small things with great love and come up with a bigger, better picture of our world. Don't you agree?

drop of life

I didn't realize until I have uploaded my post that yesterday was my 100th day of sharing and writing about my photography adventures. Imagine that, 100 days! So in celebration of this 100th day, I thought that starting my 101st day with a favorite topic is appropriate.

So today I share another raindrop photo. I love this photo because the mood is one of giving. The leaf appears like a hand catching and at the same time sharing an important component of life - water. The photo also captures the freshness of the morning and the brightness of a new day.

With this new beginning, I plan to go on for another hundred days and then scan my horizon and see what happens next.

I hope that you will stay with me for the next hundred days of adventure.

Here's to life and a new beginning.

on the verge of...

It's been raining lately so you will have to understand if I share another raindrop picture today. As I mentioned several times before, raindrops are one of my favorite subjects for photography, so every time I see them, I can't help but take another picture.

The big drop in this picture seems to be on the verge of something...a new world perhaps?...a mysterious universe?...a dream?...forever?.... Take your pick or make your own addition. Yes, please make your own addition and tell me about it.

drops on a web

It rained lightly last night so everything was fresh and clean this morning. I visited my little garden as soon as there was light and look what I found - raindrops caught on a spider's web. They looked like jewels sparkling in the early morning light. I immediately got my camera and started shooting away.

I wondered were the spider was and I found it in another hastily put up web under a leaf. I said hastily there because the web was not as elaborate as the one with the raindrops. It probably abandoned its original web when it rained and took shelter under a nearby leaf. I'll show you the spider picture next time.

falling in line

I can't help but go back to my favorite topic today. The past few days have been rainy and when I opened my photo files, the first ones I noticed are my raindrops pictures. It's as if they were reminding me to focus on them once more. So I hope you don't mind if you get another raindrops photo today.

I just find raindrops so enchanting and refreshing. They always remind me that we can find beauty everywhere if we just stop and take a look at our surroundings. Most often, we find a part of our world reflected on the drops. This time however, it was not the reflection that attracted me to the drops but it was their formation. They appear like they are falling in line and getting ready for some special event.

blue magic...blue raindrop

I wanted to write a poem to give tribute to this blue raindrop but words escape me. Somehow I cannot weave the words beautifully enough to describe such fragile beauty. So I will attempt no more but just share with you this raindrop that has enchanted me with its blue magic.

prayer and rain

One time, it was only 4 days before our monthly contest and I did not yet have any decent picture for our theme “rain”. I prayed for rain that day and when it suddenly poured I was so surprised and thankful.

I prayed for rain and God gave me rain, so I knew had to go out and take a picture. With umbrella in one hand and my camera in the other, I went out into the rain and started shooting. It was hard shooting that way; I just could not get my camera steady. I needed both hands in order to do that but I also had to hold the umbrella or my camera will get wet. What a dilemma!

Anyway, I was able to get a few non-blurry shots and what I’m sharing today is one of them. I found a quotation that seems to go very with this photo, so I added it here. What do you think?

Oh, by the way, I did not submit this photo to our contest. Why? Because the printed version did look as striking as the computer screen version and I had no more time to make adjustments and get a new print. Now I'm wondering if it would have won had I submitted it. I'll never know, I guess. However, there is one thing that I know - God answers prayers!

when it rains....it pours

Shortly after winning in our club photo contest, I also learned that my two entries won in a magazine photo contest with the theme, “natural rim lighting.” Hmm, my photographic adventures are now becoming even more fun. Imagine my photos in a magazine! Wow! I could not believe my luck. It was my first time to join a magazine contest, and both my entries made it. Was I happy? You bet!

Anyway, here is one of my winning photos showing the theme “natural rim lighting.” I titled this “nature’s beads.”

caught in a raindrop

I mentioned in my earlier post that my favorite subjects for photography are flowers and raindrops. Since I have been posting mostly flowers, I thought that today is a good time for another raindrop photo.

This photo is titled “caught in a raindrop.” It is actually cropped from a bigger photo to focus more on this raindrop. I had an interesting discussion with a good friend when I shared this photo. We talked about - “what if our world is caught in a raindrop like this? Can you imagine what will happen if the drop falls? Is our world really as fragile as a raindrop”, etc.? We had fun tossing the idea around. I hope you will also give it a thought. How about it?

swirly drop

I thought sharing a raindrop will help brighten an otherwise gloomy day.

I caught this drop (there are actually 3 drops but I focused on the bottom one) on a swirly vine so I called it "swirly drop." Part of the vine is reflected upside down on the drop. This started me we wondering - why is the vine upside down when reflected on a drop, but upright when reflected on a mirror? I know there is physics here and a lesson on refraction, but who wants to talk about physics on a day like this? Not me. I just want to enjoy my "swirly drop."

the color of rain

It's a little gloomy today and it feels like rain, so I thought of sharing a "rain" photo.

Taking pictures of rain is challenging. It is even doubly challenging if one is inside a moving vehicle. I took this picture from inside the window of a moving car and the rain streaks produced just the right effect. I was lucky to find a trike with a colorful umbrella outside. The color contrast is simply beautiful, don't you think so?

After fiddling around with the various controls of my camera, I discovered that setting the camera to sports mode produced the best effect if one is inside a moving vehicle.

Those who are photoshop savvy (I'm not by the way), can produce rain effects, but where is the fun and challenge in that? If I can do it the natural way, why rely on photoshop?

another not so perfect picture

Aside from flowers, raindrops are my other favorite subject for my photographic adventures. Most people don't like taking photographs when it rains, but not me. I always love it when it rains because I know that I can take pictures of raindrops.

Why is this picture not so perfect? Because it's not sharply focused. This is a big no no in photography unless of course one really wants to create an intentional blur. However, this is not the case in this photo. It's a little blurry and that simply means it was not properly focused when I took it. Since I did not want to get my camera unduly wet when I took the picture, I did not have time to get a very sharp focus. Anyway, I took the picture and kept it, and now I'm even sharing it. Why? Because I love the picture. I love the mood that it conveys. When I saw the raindrops on the leaves of this plant at that time, I knew I had to take the picture. The plant looked so forlorn then and I was even reminded of angel tears and the line from the song, "Windows of the World" --- "whenever rain appears, it's really angel tears, how long must they cry...."