Shooting Pictures in Ordinary Places

I really enjoy the idea of taking something mundane, ordinary, or limited and doing something cool with it.  In my mind, this is where real creativity comes out.  Sure, you can come up with something innovative and groundbreaking but making something special out of what people see, experience everyday is still a great way to spend your creative energies.

This short post is about my parents' backyard and the shooting I did while I was there over Christmas.  I'd hoped to go out shooting but the weather wasn't cooperating.  Lots of rain.  So I did what I could with what I had.

My parents' very ordinary backyard in the rain.

The next morning I noticed the sun was out.  Everything was dripping and there was a cold chill in the air.  I grabbed my camera and stepped out onto the patio.

As you can see, the light was beautiful.  I took this picture and stepped forward until I was right next to the glowing orange Birds of Paradise.

As was my custom, I started out shooting these flowers from farther away then moved closer until I got this shot.  The other shots are beautiful too but the contrast of the creamy white, orange, rust, and roadrunner blue really shows up when you get in close.  Note the water droplets.

Later that afternoon I was taken by the glowing green of the leaves from one of the large bushes.  I took many shots but couldn't get the right picture so I did what I like to do in those circumstances:  I looked up.

Apparently, shooting into the sun isn't something you're supposed to do.  You turn your back to the sun  and use it to light your subject but I take pictures into the sun all the time.  And I'm not just talking about the endless sunset pictures I seem to take.

Anyway, I was taken by the glowing green of the leaves, the blue sky, the clouds, and the sun between the tree branches so I took several shots.

I love how this photo came out.

I took several of these patio shots.  I really love the deep shadows and how they contrast with the bright green and the peek of sunlight glow at the top.  I also like the blue of my parents' house in this picture.  It provides a kind of grounding for everything else.

I've learned that shooting is all about paying attention to light.  Where the light is (and isn't), what's being lit up and what isn't, and what the colors look like.  In these pictures, the light is affected by the fact that it had been raining for a good part of the day and everything was still wet.  Water (even in droplets) creates another kind of glow and cleans the air which is why the light looks so clear here.

It wasn't long before it started raining again.  That's another thing about shooting pictures, you gotta pay attention to what's going on around you so you can take advantage when you see something that might be worth looking at.  And you need to keep your camera handy.