Kid playing in the rain at Cebu Wet Market

Differential focusing is sometimes used to tell a story. Here the blurred foreground showing a woman market trader and a sharp subject caused by a large aperture gives the impression of an adult presence. Those kids are not allowed to play without adult supervision. This protective behaviour is an inborn instinct. This shot was also a reminiscence of my own childhood, where we as kids we loved to play in the rain. The kids in our village or “kampong” as it is called in Malaysia would gather around and some of the games we played were paper boats, bathing the dogs, etc.

When taking such shots, it is best to make sure that there is subject separation. Subjects that are partially merged with the background do not give the same impact as a well-defined subject.  Here the backlighting adds drama to the image. The blurred foreground and background structure also helps to frame the image. This draws the viewer directly to the main subject. Try to use a larger aperture like f4 or less.