Shooting Reflections with Digi Pixels

By Digi Pixels

Greetings Fellow Photographers!

Sometimes reflections can cause distractions or reflecting light into the scene where we may not want it. But this tip is about making use of the reflective surfaces we encounter in life to make more interesting and powerful photographs.

It takes a little practice to find interesting reflections and how they may be used effectively. Possibly the most common reflection photo is that of the mountain scene reflected in a lake. It is beautiful, strait forward and easy enough shot to take. Just setup a camera with a wide-angle lens on a tripod, then set the camera to a long exposure to get that wonderful calendar shot! But lets look beyond the most obvious shots and look at how reflective surfaces can play a very important part of your photography.

After you have gotten the typical landscape reflection, try to mix up your styles to get a truly unique photo. Experiment with angles as you focus on the reflections playing on the water and your subject. Or place something interesting in the foreground for eye catching juxtaposition. You could change up the composition of the photo by pointing the camera down to focus on the reflection of the water for an abstract take on the shot.

When in town or a city environment reflections can be found everywhere, you just need to be observant to see them. Urban reflections tend to be more subtle but can become huge elements in your own photography. Think about that lake reflection and try to emulate this in other ways. Reflective floors can act just the same as a body of water. A puddle on the sidewalk placed create add an interesting layer to your photo. Or the way the glass of a building reflects the light can suddenly become very powerful elements in your composition.

Keep an eye out for reflections in the glass of buildings, cars, or metallic surfaces to shoot into and through. Think about how you might abstract the world around you. Find ways to incorporate reflections as elements to compliment the overall scene or fill the camera frame with the distorted rendering of the world you see. Remember to look beyond direct reflections but instead how the light reflects off of different metallic surfaces creating interesting color and light.

 

Your camera settings are going to depend on the light that you’re shooting in and the effects that you’re after but you can keep it simple and still have a blast with this. An easy setup is auto mode and so that you can simply experiment and get used to how the camera renders different kinds of reflective surfaces. This tip is all about seeing and that is photography at its core. Experiment and remember to have fun!

Digi's Inspiring Photo 

Throughout this year, I will share some of my favorite photos with you to give you a bit of inspiration and background information on how a photo was captured and created. Some may be photos I shot, while others might be from other pro photographers.

This photo was shot at the Denver Museum of Art. It was very dark in this room and so I had to turn the ISO up to about 1600 to get enough light for a shutter speed of about a 20th of a second. This was just fast enough as I had a fisheye lens on the camera at f2.8 to let as much light into the camera as I could. I knelt down to the ground to give more of the frame over to the reflections on the floor and to stabilize myself more given the low light situation I was shooting. I was going for something a little abstract; the painted wall, low light and reflective surfaces all combined to achieve a nice painterly/abstract effect.

I had my doubts if this shot would come out at all given the low light but took the chance on it anyway and I think it was well worth it. Don’t be afraid to push you camera and your creativity to the very ends of your capabilities and beyond. Have fun and you never know what you’ll end up capturing.

– Digi 

Your Photos

Thanks to everyone who have shared their photos with me since the last email! If you would like to submit a photo for me to post in an upcoming email, please use the "Share via Email" feature in your online account: log into your account, click the green "share" tab, and follow the steps to share via email (the photo must be uploaded to your account, which you can do by clicking "Add Photos"). Share the photo(s) with me, digipixels@lifepics.com. Feel free to include info on how you got the shot, and whether or not you used any of my tips!

Tea House at White Pond Camp in New York - White Pine Camp was the summer home for President Coolidge. He built this for his wife. – Sandy