A Personal Photo Challenge {Stormy Weather}

Over the past months, I have been learning to "see" with new eyes through the lens of my camera. 

When I first joined Donna's Personal Photo Challenge last September, I compared it to "school," I being the kindergartner and Donna being the college graduate. And although I still look at Donna's amazing photographs and see that there is a long way to go, I do believe that I am "seeing" things differently as she has had me (and the other participants) focusing on one facet of photography at a time. The informative articles she supplies, as well as her own pointers, are just the ticket for broadening our horizons...one step at a time.

This month's challenge was stormy weather. We have had our fair share of rain, so there was ample opportunity to practice!  

Here are some of my favorites. (All photos were taken with my Canon Rebel T3.)

I crouched down on my front porch to get a straight on view of the rain falling on the flowers on the front step. I liked that you could see not only the drops, but also the puddles. I thought the color (red and white flowers, black pineapple ornament) added contrast to the gloom. (Still thinking about last month's challenge, I suppose.) 

I edited this photo in PicMonkey, increasing the shadows. 

This next shot was a real challenge! I wanted to capture a view of the rain from inside my automobile. (Don't worry...I wasn't driving!) I had hoped to get one with wiper blades in motion. But it was either wiper blades with a "meh" outside view, or a nice view with no wiper blades. I'll try again sometime. In the meantime, I was pleased with the focus on the raindrops on my windshield as I sat at the end of my driveway, looking at the field across the road.

Again, I edited in PicMonkey, increasing the shadows. (Shadows seemed to be just the thing to highlight the drops!) 

For the last photo, I was a bit bolder! I took this photo of Bekah, attired in bright rain gear and walking across the back yard in the rain. (Yes, it was staged, but it was raining. ~smile~) This time, I added shadows and also increased the contrast considerably. Maybe the result is "artificial," but I wanted the hot pink umbrella and rain jacket to pop against the green. It's fun to experiment anyway! 

Yes, I said that was my last photo. (Oops.) But that one reminded me of a favorite photo from last year, taken on a July day when we got six inches of rain in one afternoon! Bekah made the best of the deluge by stomping in the puddles the pond that appeared in our front yard. 

So I decided to edit the photo using this year's eye...cropping, increasing the shadows, and sharpening the image. (Original seen ~here~.)

Thank you, Donna, for another month of challenging photo opportunities, especially as you are in the midst of your own "storm." 

Click on the button below to see more...