On a Rainy Day

It was exactly one week ago to the day that I went to the town of Krefeld to participate in the 10th Worldwide Photowalk. An Arcanum friend of mine had organized a walk there, and I was eager to join. Here are the images that I took.

Lousy weather

The prospect looked bleak, that much was clear. The rain wasn’t strong, rarely more than a cold and very fine drizzle, but it was relentless. And even though it wasn’t bad enough to dampen our mood, it became clear that despite the usual photographers’ enthusiasm and optimism (e.g., „Things can look particularly interesting in the rain.“) that we wouldn’t get many exciting shots outside on this day. Everything looked gray, bleak, and dull.

Old house in Krefeld Hüls.

Bad weather for cycling

Shooting inside

In the local museum

So, where do you go to complain about the weather? Exactly! You go to church. And that’s precisely what we did. Twice. Before we did, though, we checked out the local museum. It was a small place packed with all kinds of exhibits from the everyday life of past ages. Our guide was quite knowledgeable and could tell quite a few tales about the displays to those who were interested in these things. I, for my part, wasn’t. I was there for photography. Due to the confinedness of the space, photographing was difficult, so I only got very few presentable shots.

A quarter to ten.

Figurine and candle holders

Conventual church

Right next to the museum, though, there was a conventual church. We entered it through a side entrance which we could only reach through a side exit from the museum. A glass roof which was covered with raindrops and some fallen leaves sheltered the narrow alley between the two buildings. They say that as a photographer, you should always look behind. But in fact, you really should always turn in every direction. In this alley, looking up was the right thing to do.

Wet glass Roof #1

Wet Glass Roof #2

The church itself was quite small and apparently freshly renovated. As so often, my 18-135mm lens proved to be too long on my APS-C camera. I couldn’t get the whole ceiling into the frame. Instead, I tried to find an interesting crop. Here’s the result of my efforts.

Conventual Church Ceiling #1

Conventual Church Ceiling

I quickly found taking pictures of the ceiling both, tedious and frustrating, so I tried to find interesting objects for more intimate detail shots. On the altar, I saw a cross with a figure of Jesus on it. Right next to it, there was a bokeh of small flowers. One of the blossoms had fallen, so I took it and put it Jesus’ head in place of a crown.

Flower Power

On a small shelf on the side, there was a simple mug.

Mug

In the alley between the buildings, there was an adorned plate hanging on the wall. I tried to make the shot more interesting by only showing a part of the plate.

Adorned plate.

In one section of the church, there were interesting arches which, again, were quite narrow. I spent some time to find some interesting crops and angles.

Arches #1

Arches #2

Another church

Next, we went to the parish church St. Cyriakus which was situated only a few meters away. This church is much larger and visually more varied and interesting. Unfortunately, though, we were running out of time as the photo walk was only meant to last 2 hours. I was able to get few interesting shots in the time I had.

Parish Church #1

Pipes

Arches #3a

Arches #3b

Arches #3c. This photo and the previous ones were processed from the same file using different techniques.

Happy Child

Thoughtful Person

Parish Church #2

Parish Church #3

Conclusion

There is a lesson in everything, even in photo walks in bad weather. The lesson here was for me that working in challenging conditions (bad weather, narrow spaces, bad light, etc.) didn’t only make photographing more difficult but also more stimulating and consequently more rewarding. And: There really is no reason not to go out and shoot. Interesting images can be found everywhere and all the time.

Lousy weather