"Summertime, and the livin' is easy..."    Many of you may recognize this as the opening line to the classic song "Summertime" by Ella Fitzgerald.  The song's slow and languid tempo perfectly depicts the mood of those hot lazy days of summer but living isn't always easy.  Here in Connecticut we've experienced a brutal heatwave that has made living anything BUT easy!  The local new stations are reporting that although it is not mandatory, we should conserve our water usage due to the lack of rain and dry conditions.


So as I keep cool by staying indoors, I have to be extra creative to come up with some new photos.  I decided to dabble with the theme of the heat, water conservation and keeping cool during this heatwave.  After looking around the house for some ideas and coming up empty, I suddenly thought of using a water faucet and a drop of water.  Photographers and other creative artists will often have a fully realized vision in their mind as to what they want their finished project to look like and this was no different.  Once you have your final vision in your mind, the hard part is over, now all you have to do is take the necessary steps to make that vision a reality.


The faucet you see here is in the kitchen and for the blue background  I used a hard plastic lid that fits on top of a storage box.  The cool blue color is a stark contrast to the warm weather we are experiencing but it also makes the stainless steel and the water drop stand out in the photo.  To capture the water drop, I turned on the faucet slightly and had to be perfectly timed to capture the drop at the right moment.  An off-camera flash created a beautiful star highlight on the water drop that helps to add some visual interest.  Water is essential to us, we need it for our survival.  As we are in the midst of conserving our water resources, I hope that this single water drop will remind us of the delicate balance we have with nature and how we must preserve water now and for future generations.