DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Five tips to get perfect reflections in your landscape photos

May 29, 2020 by Dunja Djudjic Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Incorporating reflections in your shots is a great way to create balance, harmony and symmetry. What’s more, the reflection itself can become the foreground interest in your landscape shots. And just like all techniques, there are ways to master this one too. In this video, Mark Denney gives you five tips (and bonus tip) for getting perfect reflections in your landscape photos.

1. Shoot vertical

Shooting at a vertical orientation lets you incorporate a lot more of the reflection in the shot. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you should always shoot vertically, but it’s a great way to capture more of that wonderful reflection.

2. Filters?

Should you use filters or not? And which ones? Mark reflects on this topic as well, and one of the most debated filters is certainly a circular polarizer. It takes away the reflections from the water surface, so why would you even use it if you want those reflections in an image? Well, you can leave it out, but in some cases it be your best friend. You can turn the filter so that it still shows some of the reflections, but it also reveals the details below the water surface, which can look absolutely stunning.

And what about neutral density (ND) filters? You can incorporate them too, so you can slow down your shutter speed a bit and get a much smoother surface of the water, which will give you some wonderful reflections.

3. Timing

Ideally, shooting in the morning or evening is the best because the water is the most peaceful then. Also, you won’t have bright sunlight reflections glistening on the water surface. You want the wind to be below 3-5 mph. You can use weather apps to determine when the best time will be for you to shoot.

4. Get low and close

Mark says that he applies this to many shooting scenarios, and it’s also useful for shooting reflections. You can move your camera around and find the best angle to shoot. This will also create those photos where there is no actual subject in the frame, only its reflection. Mark says that he loves photos like that – and I do too!

5. Break the rules

Break the composition rules – ditch the rule of thirds, feel free to put the horizon in the middle, as you don’t want to cut off that reflection.

Bonus tip: focusing

Usually focusing on the reflection itself is, in most cases, the best way to get the ideal focus. Mark also recommends using the aperture between f/11 and f/16 so that you have the whole scene in focus. You can also focus on the foreground, then on the background, and focus stack them in Photoshop.

When I was just starting out with photography, I was obsessed with reflections. And I must admit that I kinda still am (the photos in this article are mine). I love shooting reflections, and I think that they can contribute to the images a lot. In fact, sometimes a reflection can even be a subject on its own.

How do you feel about reflections? Do you enjoy experimenting with them, too?

[5 Must Know Tips to Enhance REFLECTIONS in Your Landscape Photos!! via ISO 1200]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Five composition tips to boost your wide-angle landscape photos Two tips for removing reflections from eyeglasses Five tips for getting the perfect angle for portraits Five tips to get perfect selections and cutouts in Photoshop

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: landscape photography, landscape photography tips, Mark Denney, reflection, reflections

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Don’t be a photography snob
Read this before you ask event photographers for photos »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy