I selected a puddle for my photography subject in January. The first photo, which started it all, is in the center of this collage. These photos show various views of the puddle until it officially dried up yesterday. A new puddle was created by today's rainfall. However, I decided not to include today's photo in this collage. I consider today's puddle a completely new puddle with a life of its own.
Here is the story behind why I chose a puddle for my subject. I firmly believe that each season has a beauty of its own. I really do not like the season of winter, but I do believe that winter has its own beauty. On the first of January, I walked outside looking for a photo subject which would show the beauty of winter throughout the month of January. When I walked by this puddle, I looked at the puddle with fresh eyes. I was surprised to see beauty in this frozen mud puddle. I returned on the second day of January to start my puddle photo series. Yes, there is indeed beauty in a mud puddle. Sometimes, I had to look hard to see the beauty, but the beauty was always in that puddle waiting to be found.
I am really glad that I did this puddle photo series. I learned a lot about me, about taking pictures and about puddles. I learned that I could persevere through rain and cold temperatures and wind to take pictures of the puddle. I learned to change my perspective and the camera angle to bring out the best in the puddle. I also learned about what light would do the puddle and to the photos. I learned how puddles transform over time and through various weather conditions. I found out that bubbles in the puddle sometimes come from someone or something going through the puddle and sometimes rise from the bottom mud layer.
Tomorrow, I begin the Flash of Red-2015 challenge. I hope to learn just as much from this BW challenge, as I did from photographing the puddle. I am looking forward to the challenge of black and white in February.
