Rainy-day Magic

Look: you can see the drips coming from the downspout.

It's April, so rain is not unexpected. And here, when a day starts with rain, it is pretty much guaranteed to end that way. Unlike in Colorado, where it might presage balmy sunshine or snowfall. In the next five minutes.

While I do wish rainy days could include more sunshine, I do appreciate the unique beauty that they offer. On this morning, I had headed out without my camera, planning to only do a short circuit of the park before heading back to bed to nurse my sore back.

But I was almost immediately captivated by the tiny droplet of water clinging to the tips of buds and needles. So I went back for my camera (and umbrella).

Photographing raindrops, it turns out, is a little challenging. The autofocus on the camera looks for sharp lines; water does not provide these very well.

Can you see the raindrops I caught as they fell?

The little drops show up best when there is something dark behind them, for contrast, but then it is hard to get the depth of field right so that the background is soft and out of focus.

More than once, I accidentally knocked off all the droplets in a small shower, as I leaned in close.

Like a string of beads.

All this while keeping the umbrella over my camera, and keeping Kane close to me on his leash (but not tugging).

Careful!

Next challenge: try to get a slightly greater depth of field, so I capture more of the pristine droplets. (I need to learn to bracket my shots using a variety of apertures!)

Hope you enjoyed our rainy walk1