Step in the Puddle

From behind the shutter

I have a series of interesting shots of action taken after the rain. I’ll post more later. this one was taken at sunset.

Here is the original shot:

Original: Nikon D50 • Nikkor 80-200mm
200mm • 1/2500s • f/3.2 • ISO 800
2.20.2008 5:53PM

You’ll notice that’s also part of my new focus trying to get shots out of the camera with a minimum of post edits. The only edit I’ve done is a darkening of some areas of the images, coming from the outside as well as a slight increase of the color saturation.

I simply use a large brush painting on a layer with a 4% black until I get the desired finish. Here is a view of the painted layer alone:

There are a few elements I like in the final image:

• The image and its reflection are complementary, there are only a few elements repeated. For example, the shoes are not part of the reflection, and the yellow short is not visible in the source image
• The late evening light converges directly to the splash of water, focusing the eye to the action
• Choosing a higher shutter speed allows to freeze the water, and decreases the depth of field, making the second foot softer than the front foot