A lens focal length that depicts the expanse in a way that is close to what we see with our naked eye
I composed a symmetric shot of the sky, clouds and lake with the trees at the centre. The focal length of 35mm can be used to depict the expanse of a space and at the same time, also suggest that the scene is just one part of a larger, grander one. To bring out the horizontal expanse, I used the Rule of Thirds composition to divide the sky and the clouds into a 2:1 ratio.

A narrow aperture depict the clouds, lake and trees at the same time
Although the trees seem to be standing next to one another from the image, they are in fact located at different distances from the camera. Narrowing the aperture gave me a larger depth-of-field, which not only helped achieved a sharp depiction of the shadows of the trees, but also captured the details in the clouds and water. In this situation, I got the best results at f/22.

Tip: When shooting at very narrow apertures, watch out for diffraction. It's at an acceptable level for this shot, but can make an image look softer than you want. 

A direction of light that creates reflection from the water droplets
Oblique (diagonal) backlighting can be used to bring out the glisten of the water droplets effectively. To do so, shoot with the light source diagonally behind the subject. As the raindrops and green grass would appear orangey in the morning sun, I adjusted the white balance to 3,300K to add a tinge of blue to the image.

Blurs the light to create bokeh circles
Telephoto lenses provide the shallow depth-of-field that you need to create bokeh, and this is enhanced when you shoot close to the subject. I combined this with the maximum aperture setting (f/2.8) to create bokeh circles. To make the bokeh circles even larger, I used the lens with a:
- Close-up lens;
- Extension tube; and
- Teleconverter.

Shooting angle
I captured the architecture from the side, which adds depth to the image. This also prevented the cathedral from appearing blown out due to the backlight from the sun. 

Composition
I didn't want the area occupied by the trees and the leaves in the foreground to be too large. Shooting from the side helped to keep the balance.

A lens focal length that strikes a good balance between the foreground and the main subject
I made use of the dramatic effect of the backlight and the objects in the foreground to achieve a cinematic look. In order to guide the viewer’s attention toward the cathedral, which is the main subject, I used a focal length of 22mm and took a vertical shot.

A narrow aperture reproduces the textures of the foreground objects
The trees and leaves in the foreground looked beautiful in the backlight, so I tried to reproduce their traits and textures by deep focusing at f/16. I would not have been able to direct the viewer’s attention to the main subject (cathedral) effectively if the foreground was too sharp, so I positioned the camera closer to the leaves and purposely left the image slightly out of focus.