|
Transform a Scene- Digital SLR User
Water is a really useful tool in landscape photography, providing not only an important element to use in the photograph, but also a feature that can make or break a successful image too. Still water adds calm to a picture, whilst flowing water adds movement to a scene and by using water for its reflective qualities, you add emotion and tranquillity to your images, which can transform a picture.
 To make the most of a reflection, takes careful timing and a bit of luck. The slightest breeze can create ripples, which can ruin a scene and therefore perfectly still conditions are needed to make the most of any that are revealed. These conditions can occur at any time of the day, but more often transpire at dawn, before the sun has risen. This makes them ideal for catching that colourful sunrise which often benefits from being photographed above a stretch of water to accentuate the colours cast in the sky.
Reflections can also make an average image into a great one, simply by adding an extra ingredient into the composition. If the subject isn’t that strong or the light is less than perfect, a reflection automatically adds foreground interest, which always helps make an image stronger and can add light to boost a scene on an overcast day, a bit like a reflector you would use for portraits. You can leave your camera on automatic to shoot these scenes, as if the water is perfectly still, it won’t matter what shutter speed your camera chooses for the light levels.
Reflections also add symmetry, which is pleasing to the eye and our brains respond favourably to it. One of the main rules of photographic composition is not to place the horizon across the centre of the frame, as it leads to dull and boring images with neither the land nor sky able to dominate. A symmetrical image however, needs this kind of composition to work effectively and so adding water enables you to break this fundamental rule and use it to your advantage. So go ahead and place the horizon bang in the middle of the image. However, do take a meter reading with the foreground dominating and lock this with the exposure lock button in aperture priority, as too much sky will confuse your camera into underexposing.
There are a number of techniques that you can use to make the most of a reflection. The angle of the light will determine how strong the reflection will be, so with the sun behind you, your reflection will be crystal clear, whereas shooting into the light will be less attractive and unless shooting at dawn or dusk, will be less effective.
Using a polariser will, contrary to what you may think, increase the reflections by reducing the surface glare. You will need to watch the effect through the viewfinder with the filter over the front of the lens though, as, if you turn it too far, the main reflections that you want, will also disappear. With your camera on automatic, the camera’s meter will compensate for the loss of light caused by this filter, but water shots can often look to dark when polarised, so you may need to overexpose a little if it looks a bit dark on the LCD screen.
 It’s not only in the countryside where your images can benefit from reflections. In town there are also areas of water, which can make equally appealing reflections. Ponds and sculptures also contain water and are often easier to use, as they will usually be perfectly calm and still, if there is nothing to upset the water surface.
Although the sea is a constantly moving force, it too can provide reflections for your pictures. At low tide, the sea will leave pools of water on the empty beach, which you can use to your advantage at sunset. In a harbour, the sea is sheltered and becomes still once again. Here you can use it to shoot a picturesque scene with the buildings and boats reflected in the water or aim your camera directly at the reflection in the water to create interesting abstracts.
Tech Talk
If you are shooting a landscape, then a neutral density grad filter will also be useful to balance the sky. A reflection in water should be equal or lighter than the sky it reflects, otherwise the image can look a little odd and unbalanced, so use a grad filter to hold back the sky.
Tech Talk
If there is no water feature in the town you are shooting, then try heading out again in the evening after some heavy rain. Puddles on the pavement will provide impromptu pools of water to reflect the urban landscape in and provide unique images, which may have disappeared by the next day when the sun has come out to dry them up again.
Great Locations for capturing reflections
- Derwent Water, Lake District
- Salford Quays, Manchester
- Loch Awe, Highlands, Scotland
- Piccadilly Circus, London (On a wet evening!)
- Crosby Beach, Merseyside (with Antony Gormley's statues)
© Craig Roberts
|
