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You don’t have to go out and shoot when it’s pouring down but let go of that fear of getting wet and you’ll be rewarded with amazing shots! All you need is a rain puddle and your camera. Professional photographer Nick Fancher will give you all the details.
Rain puddles are awesome. I bet you never thought to run out after it rained to hunt for decent puddles. But that’s exactly what I was working with.
The first thing I was looking for was a puddle on a patch of blacktop, or dark asphalt. Typical asphalt or concrete is much lighter in color, and you need something darker to really make this work. The next thing to keep in mind is the height of the flash. I placed it on the same level as the product – on the ground. If I were to light it from a higher angle instead, the light would illuminate too much of the ground around the product, resulting in a less than dramatic image. I also added a honeycomb grid to the flash to further contain the light spill.
Since the day I photographed this was particularly drab and dark, I had no problem dialing down the ambient with a moderate exposure. With a flash output of ¼ power I had all but eliminated the ambient light, leaving me with an exposure of 1/60 at f/7.1. On a brighter day, I’d likely need a neutral density filter to get rid of the extra ambient light.
Though the ambient has been lowered to an almost night-time quality, there are still some reflections of the sky and trees visible in the puddle. The lower shutter speed allowed these tones and shapes to remain. Though the puddle was not especially wide or deep, it sufficed in allowing me to achieve the glassy surface that I was going for, see below.
Source: Digital Photography School
Image source: Nick Fancher at Digital Photography School
