Or at least so Shirley Manson sang in 1995. And in the current English climate she'd be very very happy as we have had nothing but rain for what seems like months and months! Fortunately this provided me with the perfect opportunity to capture an image I've had in my minds eye for a while now.
A few weeks ago Adam Lerner interviewed a street photographer from Brooklyn, New York, Barry Yanowitz. Firstly, the interview was fantastic, hearing about how Barry is so patient at scoping out New York for perfect photo opportunities and then setting up waiting for the perfect scene through his Roleiflex and secondly some of the photographs that Adam was looking through and talking about were incredible, and very aspirational.
I was itching to get out and try one of the styles that runs regularly through Barry's work and that's his use of reflections in his images. I had a few ideas but finding the right setting was proving a challenge.
Roll up Jared Polin and his weekend theme challenge. For July 14th and 15th his theme was 'Reflections'.
Perfect!
Just the nudge and prod I needed to narrow down a location and capture that image. I found the largest and most interesting shaped puddle I could with an alleyway/doorway opposite and setup to see what sort of reflections and angles I could play with.
This is the image I came away with. This is flipped as I was standing at the 'top' of the frame waiting for interesting forms to enter the puddle. You can imagine how overwhelmed I was to find that Jared had chosen my Umbrella photograph for his weekly Top 5, especially looking at the other photographs that had been submitted that week.
You can see the video of Jared Polin's Top Five from July 14th and 15th here.
Pretty much the only thing I did in post processing was saturate the red a little more and pull back on all the other colours in the image. It's surprising that such a striking image can come from such a simple concept and thank you to Barry for his inspiration.
If you do like the image, I'd love for you to pop onto FroKnowsPhoto.com and put a vote in for me. I'm very proud and pleased by all the comments made thus far about the image from the FroKnowsPhoto audience. Thank you.
The next 'reflection' style image I want to create is going to be on a slightly grander scale. We'll see how I get on!
I will say that street photography is rapidly becoming a very intriguing hobby. A style and genre that at first fascinated me and then scared the bajeebus out of me when I tried it has solidly stolen my mind and keeps me coming back for more. You find yourself thoroughly investigating every last nook and cranny around towns and cities (and villages for that matter) hoping to find just one killer location that can spark a great idea for a photograph.
Have a go, and once you've captured one, post it up in a comment below. I'd love to see what you can create!
Until then, choose your lens carefully, click it on the camera and get out there and shoot. I'll see you anon.
Many thanks!
Chris