Illustration - Rain

I took the photographs for this exercise when we were in Indonesia in November. There were several tropical showers in the first week when we were staying in a small hotel on the island of Bali. This gave me the opportunity to take some photos in the gardens and to redo some of these once I had looked through the first batch on a larger screen.

My initial ideas for potential subjects were: -

- Rain drops dripping from leaves catching the light against a darkish background

- Rain creating rings in the surface of the swimming pool lit at night by underwater and surface lights.

Dripping leaves

I found a couple of places where I could photograph leaves in the rain from a reasonably dry position. I took a number of photographs varying the exposure times and Iso settings. Exposure time was important as this affected the appearance of the rain. The rain appeared as long streaks with a longer exposure time. However, the wind and rain was moving the leaves, so the exposure time needed to be fast enough to freeze most of this movement.

The two photographs I selected were:-

Dripping leaves 1

Nikon 18-200mm at 80mm: Iso 125 f5.6 for 1/60th second

Dripping leaves 2

Nikon 18-200mm at 150mm: Iso 1600 f5.6 for 1/250th

Observations

Dripping leaves 1 is predominantly dark green in tone, as both the pointed leaves of the tropical shrubs and the background are similar colours. The shadows and highlights of the foreground leaves are, however, sufficient to make them stand out against the blurred background. The rain is heavy enough to be visible as streaks in the air, and as drops and wet surfaces on the leaves.

The composition of the two plants is however lacking a distinct point of visual interest. The viewers eye wanders around the frame examining the detail, but there is no natural resting place. The content of the photograph is too diffuse around the frame and it does not appear as a coherent shape.

I took another photograph of just the leaves on the upper right hand side. This is visually stronger, possibly because these leaves are more consistent in shape and they create a lopsided triangle in the composition. Unfortunately, the horizontal format of this photograph makes it unsuitable as a magazine cover.

Dripping leaves 2 is more colourful. It is brighter in tone and the brown central leaf and yellowish lower leaf contrast with the various greens. The foreground leaves are backlit so that the texture and structure of the leaves are the principal visible interest. The composition is in the form of an inverted triangle, with the three leaves of different sizes forming a diagonal from top left to the apex near the bottom of the frame. The twigs across the top and down the right hand side provide the other sides of the triangle. Whilst the lower two leaves are quite central, the position of the largest leaf off centre, close to the intersection of the rule of thirds balances the composition. The upper section of the background is lighter than the leaves in the main composition. However, this does not, I feel, distract from the visual interest of the three leaves. Indeed, the gradation of the background from dark at the bottom to lighter at the top adds to the composition.

The rain drops in this photograph have become white streaks which are not quite so interesting visually as the longer streaks and splashes in Dripping leaves 1.

Rings in the surface of the swimming pool

I was less fortunate with the night-time photo of the swimming pool, as the timing of our activities and the weather meant that the right situation did not recur during our short stay.

I did try a variety of daytime photos, and this is the most succesful.

Swimming pool in rain

Nikon 18-200mm at 200mm: Iso 400 f8 for 1/125th second

Observations

I needed some fallen leaves and/or flower heads to provide a point of focus, but it was relatively difficult to get a viewpoint with these in suitable positions whilst staying reasonably dry! I selected this photograph with the single leaf as I liked the graduated background colour. The photograph however lacks sufficient impact, I needed to be closer to the water, and I needed more depth of field.

Other rain photographs

I was looking for other potential photographs suitable for this exercise and two arose which I had not anticipated beforehand.

Orange umbrella

Nikon 18-200mm at 48mm: Iso 800 f7.1 for 1/25th second

Observations

The orange umbrella is clearly the focal point for this photo. The dark areas around the edges of the frame acts rather like a vignette to draw the eye into the picture. The reasonably intense orange of the umbrella contrasts strongly with the green background. The foreground is the lightest area, as the sky is reflected in the tiles. This is not so strong that it distracts the viewer. The eye ultimately notices the garden behind the umbrella with the heavy rain and shiny wet leaves.

Skylight

Nikon 18-200mm at 55mm: Iso 400 f5.6 for 1/20th second

Observations

There was a horizontal glass skylight in the cottage on which leaves and flowers had fallen. It was rather like seeing a puddle from underneath. I chose this viewpoint because there was tree above the skylight that gave a relatively dark background. The colours of the leaves and flowers show up with better contrast against this colour than against the white sky.

It would be difficult for a viewer to make out what I have taken a picture of. The photograph therefore has an abstract quality. The thick glass has a slightly opaque texture and blur which adds a slight painterly quality to the leaf and flower shapes. A drawback for this particular exercise is that the rain falling onto the skylight is not readily visible.

Conclusions

A photograph for the cover of a magazine has to catch the eye, but the reader is relatively unlikely to study the picture closely for any length of time.

Bearing this in mind, I think only two of these photographs would be suitable: Dripping leaves 2 or Orange umbrella. Of these, I would choose the Orange umbrella as the colours are much more striking than Dripping leaves 2 which has a more harmonious colour palette.