reaching out for the raindrops

[sinlikenkuri]

Newbie here. While on the process of learning and familiarizing the controls and functions of my DSLR, my daughter extended her arm out the window trying to reach the raindrops. I was almost tempted to shoot to Auto mode not wanting to miss this moment, fortunately she enjoyed what she was doing so i was able to experiment more on the manual settings.

1.in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition.
I have composed the picture this way because I want to show my child's eagerness to play in the rain but unfortunately, as a parent, I don't want to let her play under the rain.

I will like feedback on photography techniques.
The following is the camera settings used to photograph this picture.
Shutter priority 1/125 s
ISO-400

I have chosen this shutter speed/exposure compensation because I want
to freeze my daughter's playful hand and the falling rain in the background.

2.under what circumstance is the picture taken

I took this picture when my daughter started to enjoy feeling the raindrops even if it is through the window only. Contrary to my younger days where I go out and freely enjoy the rain.

 

[CamInit]

One thing to know is that what the camera capture is not what you see. I don't really see rain drops, just a dry outstretched hand. How many shots was attempted? Don't restrict yourself to just one or two. Shoot more and pick the best.

It would be a stronger composition if the rain is heavier (which you can't control) with her hand and palm open facing up, wet with raindrops, water splashing and forming a puddle in her palm (which should be possible). To go further, try black and white since color is not a focus here, or desaturate the background. Vignetting to focus on her hand and reduce the cut-off limb effect.

 

[sinlikenkuri]

One thing to know is that what the camera capture is not what you see. I don't really see rain drops, just a dry outstretched hand. How many shots was attempted? Don't restrict yourself to just one or two. Shoot more and pick the best.

It would be a stronger composition if the rain is heavier (which you can't control) with her hand and palm open facing up, wet with raindrops, water splashing and forming a puddle in her palm (which should be possible). To go further, try black and white since color is not a focus here, or desaturate the background. Vignetting to focus on her hand and reduce the cut-off limb effect.

CamInit,
thanks for the honest and straightforward feedback . i agree with you that the rain was not emphasized in the background, how would i improve shooting raindrops in this scenario? i tried around 5-6 shots but i was not really able to get what i want. but as you have said, maybe a black and white will work, i will try that out. thanks

 

[rahulv]

for this kind of shot i will set shutter speed to as low as possible and go in continuous shooting mode to get a raindrop to hit the hand.

spraying some water on the hand would have helped.

 

[ntheni]

Hi, agreed with the others bro comments. From your title, I expected to see a drench hand but I see a dry hand instead
I feel the composition can be better if this photo include your daughter inside and not just the hand.

Just my 2 cents

 

[sinlikenkuri]

for this kind of shot i will set shutter speed to as low as possible and go in continuous shooting mode to get a raindrop to hit the hand.

spraying some water on the hand would have helped.

my first try was at low shutter speed but it made the hand blurry because my daughter's hand keeps on moving. i wanted to get a sharp shot on the hand (which i believe was achieved) but with a blurry/silky raindrops (which i agree that i failed). but thank you for reminding me that continuos shooting mode option. i should have set that.

 

[sinlikenkuri]

Hi, agreed with the others bro comments. From your title, I expected to see a drench hand but I see a dry hand instead
I feel the composition can be better if this photo include your daughter inside and not just the hand.

Just my 2 cents

yeah, i realized that. i should have made the title "trying to reach out the rain"
thanks bro!

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Having just the hand (+ a bit of arm) alone doesn't quite convey that "reaching out" idea. Added to that the gesture of the hand is also not quite what most would expect out of "reaching out to the rain". It looks more like reaching out for a handshake.

Maybe try again next time and shoot from further back to show your daughter reaching out?
Shutter speed and aperture settings should be appropriate to capture some water splashes if possible.
Ideally, the palm(s) should face more or less skyward.