There are many styles in photography, but it is better to focus on one and make it your personal style. Photographing reflections is a style you can develop because reflections are mostly unnoticed by the average person, so therefore you have a chance at being unique and showing the world something only you have seen.
This article helps you discover the types of reflections, their features, how to notice them, and a common mistake photographers make. Reflection photos have a whole lot more going on in the frame than other types of photos. They double the elements and colors, they are more dramatic, and provide a balanced composition.
Natural reflections: These occur in nature such as waterscapes. An example of a photo would be a cityscape reflected on a river, or a group of birds reflected on a pond.
Architectural reflections: These occur on architectural surfaces. An example of a photo would be an old building reflected on a modern glass building in front of it.
Surreal reflections: These are the hardest to notice since they require an artistic eye. An example of a photo would be the Eiffel tower reflected on a puddle of water on a rainy day.
Abstract reflections: These show colors and lines without revealing what the reflected subject is. An example of a photo would be a colorful building reflected on water, showing wavy lines and colors.
As a photographer whose goal is to develop a personal style, you must train your eye to notice reflections. For natural reflections, look in front of you, at rivers. For architectural reflections look above, on building surfaces. For surreal reflections look at the ground to notice objects reflected in puddles of water.
You do not need to spend a lot of money on professional equipment to photograph reflections as they can be photographed with any mid-level camera and lens, you can even use a mobile phone.
At the time of taking the photo make sure you do not cut off the reflection, since it is a major element in the photo. Cutting it off would unbalance the composition and confuse the eye into forcing it to imagine the cut off part. That is exactly like taking a photo of a model and cutting her feet off.
Reflection photos provide you with an opportunity to produce unique work, so get your camera ready and start hunting for them.
