a collaboration :: water

Several months ago, my friend Jessica and I decided to collaborate on a fun photography project. Each month we choose a theme and then capture what inspired us about the theme with one photograph. Our last theme was evening light. And this month our theme is water.

Jessica is a good friend and a photography hero of mine. She is fabulous with a camera and also creates stunningly beautiful presets for Lightroom at One Willow Presets. One of my most beloved tools in Lightroom is her One Willow Brush Set. Swoon.

I, on the other hand, am a complete amateur who currently only dreams of being a real photographer. Trying to learn all I can in between loads of laundry, refilling sippy cups and trips to the grocery store.

What I lack in talent I try to make up for in determination.

So let’s go!

From Jessica about her photo:

Much of our time this summer was spent by the pool escaping the high temperatures. It wasn’t until the last week that we’ve had a break from the temperatures and our evenings began cooling down a bit…

Click here to learn more about Jessica’s photo and how it was captured.

A bit about my photo:

From the time Jessica mentioned having water as our theme, I knew that I wanted to capture one of my kiddos playing in the sprinkler. Because we don’t have a pool, and don’t live near a pool, my kids looooove the sprinkler, especially on hot days.

So it seemed the perfect expression of water in the summer!

But imagining the picture I wanted to capture and actually capturing it proved to be two very different things. I ended up going out three separate times to try to get a water shot to use and it wasn’t until just a few days ago I finally captured one.

For this picture, I got down on the ground to emphasize the size of the water spray coming out of the sprinkler. And then I just watched Vivienne go. She figured out that standing on the sprinkler made the water come out faster and all I had to do was click away. I composed the shot several different ways, not quite sure which I preferred – trying not to miss a chance for a cute picture. I took about 20 shots of her on the sprinkler total, and this was the very last one I took. It is also the one I like the most – her expression, the water droplets in the air, the other kiddos playing in the background.

And, truly, I just can’t resist the cuteness of a girl with an ice cream cone on her swim suit.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8
ISO 320
26mm
f/2.8
1/800 sec

Be sure to come back next month to see what theme we’ll try to capture next. And take a moment and stop by Jessica’s website to check out all the beautiful things she has going on. Like the recent release of a brand new collection of presets – the Palette Collection.