Make it rain - creating rain effect
Hello folks!
I hope you all are doing great and passing a wonderful time! Today I’m about to share a simple trick I use to create some of my rain photos. Usually I use a spray water bottle to make fake rain, but this method is for getting a bit more heavy rain look with more water droplets. It’s super easy and fun (and a bit messy too :P)
I always love to create rainy photographs, and since winter is coming there will be enough time to do more indoor shots. so lets bring little rain to your photos and make something beautiful
Props and tools
The things I use to create my photos are very simple. Small still life objects ( I used one of my sea shells here), something to sprinkle the water, towel or paper towels (lots!) and something to pour the water, (I used a teapot).
I thought of different options to make the water sprinkler, but for me the nice and most easy way was to make this one from an old empty soda bottle. I cut it in half and punched some holes and that’s it. At first I thought of using a watering can but that would be heavy to work with and also I had to buy it. So instead of buying I liked the idea of recycling and making my own little water sprinkler. This makes the water flow scattered and gives some big, beautiful drops.
Lighting
To get some beautiful bokeh in the background you’ll need a source of backlight. I’ve shot this in my balcony where there’s plenty of natural sunlight available. I placed my subject in a corner where I could get nice backlight without causing much shadow cast in my subject. And to get rid of existing shadows, I used a little white reflector which was a cut sheet of styrofoam.
Shooting
So now that I’m done with my composition it’s time to shoot! With my camera set to self-timer mode I poured water onto my subject through the sprinkler during the exposure. For this photo my camera setup was something like this: Shutter speed 1/1600 sec, Aperture f/1.8, ISO 640. You may need to adjust the shutter speed depending on how heavy you want the water drops to look. Slower shutter speed will make them appear softer.
Things to remember
Working with water is a bit critical and you should always be careful about your lens and camera. Just to be on the safe side, I highly recommend capturing some test shots before pouring water onto your neatly arranged subject. Also keep in mind that water will probably make a bit of mess and change your composition slightly, so leaving some space for rain drops and chaos would be a good idea.
So when you are all set up, let it rain! Pour water and make a series of shots. Another advantage of using a tripod is if you can’t get the picture you wanted you can always composite different images together and create the desired look. Just be careful with your electronic equipments and have fun. It’s always such fun to mimic the rain and if you can get some nice water crowns it will be icing on the cake!
This is my final result after post processing
I hope you like this little behind the scene story. Please do share your thoughts and also if you have any ideas, I’d love to hear from you!
I wish you all a very Happy and Creative day!
Behind the scene and speed edit video