Capturing Reflections in Landscape Photography

StormHour Quick Guide

Reflections can be found in water, mirrors, windows and many other places. However, taking a photo of them takes patience. For instance, capturing a perfect reflection of a stunning landscape can take a lot of patience as water is so easily disturbed.

1. Research. Check the weather forecast, wait for a calm, still day and use a sunset/sunrise app to check the sun’s positions.
   
2. Wide-angled lens and a tripod. This will keep your camera perfectly still and allow you to include a larger area of the surrounding landscape.
   
3. Break the horizon rule. Place the horizon directly in the centre of the frame.
   
4. A small aperture (large f-number). Select a small aperture, such as f-16 or above to make the whole scene sharp.
   
5. Focus on the reflection. If your camera struggles to focus on the refection near your horizon, switch to manual focus.
   
6. Take the shot. In fact, take a few. Experiment with slightly longer shutter speeds, reduced exposure, or change the white balance.
   
7. Review your photos. You will by now have plenty of photographs to review. Choose your favourites, see which takes your eye and get it posted! Reflections are often darker than the subject reflected, so if you have any, maybe use a graduated ND filter or image processing software of your choice to tidy it up.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; enjoy the process of taking a photograph, the landscape and scenery surrounding you and allow yourself to enjoy the calm. Concentrate on the intrinsic pleasure of photography first and the results second. If the picture hasn’t worked out, don’t worry, try again another day.

And if you like the image you have taken why not enter it into our daily weather and landscape photography competition on Twitter!