Something that is quite fun to try out is trying to create an image as a reflection. Photographing a reflection creates a unique image of an often photographed subject by adding interest and depth to your photograph.
You want to avoid direct light on the water because that causes glare. The best situation is when you have a direct light on the subject you want to photograph this will result in the reflection in the water which is in the shade. The reflection will then contain saturated colours and no glare.
You can either take a image of your subject and its reflection in the same frame;
It can be challenging to get a shot of reflections because you need a number of things to come together to make the image work;
- Firstly, the quieter the water, the better. So no wind.
- Secondly, you need great light, as always.
- Third, you need a animal in the right place.
The subject of interest who is receiving the direct light does not necessarily need to be in the frame. Interesting compositions can be found if you leave the main subject out of the frame and only include the reflection in the shot.
Remember I mentioned no wind? This disturbs the water.
Ripples in the water are not necessarily bad, it just produces a different effect. You can get this effect by either waiting for the wind to pick up or for an animal to disturb the waster.
Reflection does not stop with water. Look deep into an animals eye and it will tell you a beautiful story.
The following images are of an ostriches eye, the first one being a reflection of myself and my guests in the vehicle. The second is while the animal was watching the magnificent african sunset with us.
Pretty cool hey??
So now before you go try it out, think of your choices;
- the subject and its reflection?
- just the reflection?
- still water?
- blurred water?
Remember direct light on water creates glare. Important – you want the direct light to fall on your subject which is then reflected in water which is in the shade. If there is glare, you can use a polarizing filter to reduce or even remove it.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Until next time!
Happy snapping all!
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