Love it or hate it. The reflection.

The decision or selecting the scene is the first step. Once this is over there are ways to get rid of the reflection or take the reflection to perfection. Let’s start with getting rid of the reflection.

Photo: Damla Cabuk
Photo: Damla Cabuk

Taking photos from through glass while walking around and passing by interesting cafe or display window can be interesting. For example, seeing your own reflection or a car that is passing by in a photo can be really annoying when you’re trying to take a photo focused on a subject. The Polariser filters help eliminate unwanted reflections by cutting down glare from reflective surfaces. If you own a D-SLR the Circular polariser is the right filter. This filter will not work if the sun is in the front or back of the subject, the light needs to come from the side. By rotating the filter you can see the effect before shooting. The polariser filter also makes the photo more vibrant and colourful but you must be shooting with the correct light. The only perk these filters have is cutting light around 1.5 stops, slowing the shutter speed will help.

Going on to shooting reflection. There are many examples for reflection photography; they are mainly based on landscape and water reflections. Still life and macro shoots can be included. But you can shoot with any material you can find that has a reflective surface and experiment.

Photo: Damla Cabuk
Photo: Damla Cabuk

Taking photos from mirrors are quite popular. Hiding the camera with a good angle will do the trick. But if you want to go professional and actually take a straight-on photo of a mirror without your reflection in it you will need a tilt-shift lens.

Maybe just shooting your own reflection or any subjects’ reflection from a glass with a blurry background might be just what you’re looking for. Skip the glass; try slightly distorted reflective material. Cars, buildings, round metals…look a bit more carefully around you will make a difference.

And don’t feel sad for the landscape part. You really don’t need to throw yourself in the heart of nature, you can actually take a small pile of waters photo with a wide angle lens and that will make it look like there is a little lake. But hey! If you can take the time off and actually cuddle the nature amazing compositions can be created from any reflection you get out of the water or any reflective material you take with you. A little tip: try not to cut the photo right in the middle while shooting. Focus on what interests you more in the scene and get a bigger cut of that. And don’t forget the best time to shoot is at sunrise and sunset. Feeling lazy? There is always a Photoshop option too.