Reader’s Tip: Rain as Supplementary Lenses

Once you have noticed the supplementary lens phenomenon, you must wait for an interesting frame to play itself out from within the droplets, and then trigger the shutter accordingly. Photograph/ Kumar Mangwani

Almost everyone shoots raindrops and water droplets. As subjects, they are almost clichés, but perhaps, one cannot run away from certain visuals as they are so symbolic. Droplets in the monsoon are all around us. They are beautiful and represent the season in a quiet, romantic way. The cliché exists in the first place for a reason.

While we are all attracted to these obvious visuals, I wanted to play with them, so that I could make them more interesting. That’s when I noticed that when viewed from certain angles, every water droplet seems to reflect a world of its own. It’s like a secondary lens, one that shows an image of its own, twisted and distorted by the shape of the droplet.

Once the observation was made, it was about finding the right composition, such that there are no distracting elements and the viewer’s attention can directly go to the inside of the water droplet. Focusing can be a bit of a challenge, but the use of Single Point AF, or better still, manual focus can help you get the shot.

— Kumar Mangwani

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Focal Length: 85 mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter speed: 1/400 sec
ISO:200

This article originally appeared in the August 2014 issue of Better Photography.