#1 – What rule of composition did I use and why?
For this particular photo, I’m not sure there is a Rule of Composition that applies. The Rule of Thirds, Golden K, Circle, etc. and the rest are clearly not present. It’s just a random pattern of dewdrops, and in remembering when I took this, the random nature is what I wanted to capture, so the rules went out the window
#2 – Are any rules of composition broken?
Yes – all over the place! As mentioned in point #1, there is no rule to this, it’s all random, and that randomness was the goal, so I had to throw all the rules out the window in order to accomplish the objective. Does it work for you?
#3 – What camera/lens combo did I use?
For this shot, I was on my trusty Canon 40D, and the lens mount was the Sigma 70mm Macro. This particular lens is very sharp, and ideally suited to macro photography, which was my objective when I first went out. The dewdrops of the flora and fauna in the area were on my mind, but as I returned home, this particular scene drew me, both because of the randomness, and as a “teachable moment” that your own vision can change or the theme of a shoot can change if you keep your mind open.
#4 – What lighting did I use?
Here, there were no lights…it was au naturale: S=1/125th, f11, focal length = 70mm, and an ISO of 400
#5 – How did I process it?
Minimal processing on this one. The neutral tones, and just the idea of how raindrops can be amazing no matter where they exist (this was on the hood of a highly polished car) as the goal, and I liked it. All I did was sharpen and remove a little noise (+60, +50).
Hopefully this will help those of you who are interested in learning what I see with my eye and why I capture certain images. If you have more questions, or thoughts on improvement, feel free to share those in the comments!