Saratoga Photo Blog/Frozen Moments In and Around Saratoga on Saratoga.com/Downtown Rain

Rain (3).jpg

As I have mentioned in several earlier posts, I am definitely NOT a professional photographer…I am a photography enthusiast (let’s face it, a fairly avid photo enthusiast), who is always trying to learn and get better. It’s a process, that’s for sure. I have a very dear friend, Tom Stock, of http://saratogaphotographer.com, who has very patiently over the years given me tips and pointers and helped me improve my skills. I have a long way to go, admittedly, but my enthusiasm and passion are already off the charts. There’s nothing better than successfully capturing shots that really excite me.

Last Saturday, for reasons that completely escape me, I awoke at 4:00 a.m. Try as I might, I absolutely could not fall back to sleep. It was raining outside, pouring actually, and I hoped the sound would lull me back to sleep. Nope. Instead, Crazy Gail went into photo mode…and started thinking how pretty Broadway might look with little traffic; just lots of puddles and wet pavement reflecting the street lights, the traffic lights and the headlights. I decided that was a crazy thought, it was 4:00 a.m. and a Saturday for goodness’ sake! I then spent the next 45 minutes trying to talk myself out of the idea and fall back to sleep. Sighhhh…. By 5:15, I was standing on the sidewalk in front of the bank completely questioning my sanity, but so excited to see that I had been right to get out there to hunt down and capture all the beautiful reflections of a soggy Saratoga morning.

The first two photos were taken, obviously, with a fun lens that I had on my camera. The sparkling lights created such magic! I then took off the lens and got down to business. I wanted to capture and share how beautiful and colorful it was all around me with the rain coming down, making everything shimmer and shine. And, best part? The colorful scenes were constantly changing as cars came by and, most noticeably, as the traffic lights changed.

Even the storefronts contributed to the magic, shining their lights on the wet sidewalks.

I was really enchanted with the above image looking up Division Street, and was thrilled to get home and see that I actually captured it just as I had hoped. To my eye, there were distinct paralell sections to the scene, and I loved the change in the sky as well. So many great reflections!

I was snapping away like a fiend. Every time the traffic light changed, the entire scene completely changed! Check out the image above and then look again at the one below. The difference between the red light and the green light was dramatic…both equally beautiful.

I have always tried to be very aware of my surroundings. I notice angles, symmetry, sparkles, details, whatever. I think that helps my photography and, conversely, my photography makes me look harder and be more aware of these details as I try to take a better photo. It’s a beautiful cycle of awareness that I am so grateful I possess. Otherwise, I might never have had the random thought when I woke up that morning and might very well have missed the beauty and magic of a pre-dawn, rainy Saratoga morning.

Notice the blur of color in between the trees on the right in the above pic? And, below, the movement of the reflections as the lights reflect in the puddles all over the road. So much motion in those colors created by the streetlight, the headlights and the green traffic light.

Okay, it’s a beautiful morning outside today…no rain in sight…and I want to get out there and enjoy the sunshine, so I am going to wrap this up. One last thing, however. Another couple of shots that are basically the same scene which became dramatically different with just the change of the traffic light. Pretty cool…

Without sounding preachy or overly sentimental, stop and take a look around throughout your day today. There is so much to see and notice. And it’s right there if we just take the time to look.

Happy Spring!!

Even Soggy, Saratoga Sparkles…

Related Posts