Introduction of shooting skills of water reflection

Shooting reflection is easy to master among many composition techniques. Glass, mirrors, rain, seaside and lake water will all reflect light. Here, we focus on the skills that should be paid attention to when shooting reflections at the seaside or in the lake.

1. The water surface should be calm.

When shooting a mirror-like lake, the calmer the water surface, the more prominent the reflecting surface, so we need to shoot when the waves on the water surface are small. When wind or ships pass by, ripples will appear on the water surface, and the chance of taking a clear reflection will be greatly reduced.

If you want to travel abroad, you might as well ask the local people early when the wind is light or the water is clear. It is usually easier to shoot in the early morning.

If the water can't calm down, we can use slow doors and tripods to stabilize the level. This method is suitable for shooting light reflection at night, and the technique is basically the same as shooting running water.

2. Shoot in light or sidelight

The best shooting time is when the scene is in light or side light, that is to say, when the sun shines on the front or side of the scene, the reflecting surface is the most obvious. At this time, if it is calm, the chances of taking a beautiful reflection are greatly increased.

3. Use gradient gray filter (GND) or black card technology to balance the light difference.

The reflection on the water surface is usually darker than the light in the scene itself. If we want to make the reflection more prominent and clear, we can use a gradient gray filter (GND) or a black card to balance the light difference, especially when shooting the reflection of lamp light at night. Click to learn how to control light contrast.

4. Intermediate components

Different from general composition, balance is more important when shooting reflection. You can boldly put horizontal lines in the middle of the photo to make the scenery and reflection set each other off. Of course, sometimes it's a good attempt to just shoot the reflection.

5. Flip the photo up and down 180 degrees.

Do you think ordinary reflections are boring? It may be more interesting to turn the photo over and put the reflection on it later.

6. use CPL circular polarizer

CPL can eliminate the white reflective part of the water surface, making the reflection more prominent. Please refer to the usage of circular polarizer CPL for the usage of CPL.

postscript

Another thing to pay attention to when shooting Jinghu Lake is the distortion of the photos. Especially when using a wide-angle lens, the photo is seriously distorted. We can use a non-wide-angle lens or use software for post-correction, so that the finished product will be more professional.

How to shoot reflection and Shui Ying's tips?

Recently, the temperature has warmed up, but the weather is still cloudy and rainy, and it feels humid. At this time, in addition to shooting fog colors, you can also try charming reflection shooting. Taking the excellent works such as Autumn Snow Ridge by astar_hk members and Water Town Reflection by Jin Yutang members as reference, I share my own experience in shooting reflections.

1. Is it the golden ratio again?

Autumn Snow Ridge by Astar_hk

I'm sure I've heard many masters say that if you don't have too many ideas, it's best to follow the golden ratio when shooting scenery. The scenery accounts for two thirds, and the reflection often accounts for only one third of the bottom, which makes the reflection look like a supporting role. But think further, if our protagonist is a reflection, then we can boldly increase the proportion of reflection in the picture to more than half, which can highlight the reflection and make it the protagonist in the photo.

2. Pay attention to the height of the viewpoint

I don't know if you have noticed that the height of the viewpoint also affects how many reflections and real scenes are contained in the mirror. When we take a reflection, we sometimes take it very close to the water, of course, not necessarily. For example, when we are far away from the scene, the reflection and the real scene are almost in the same proportion, and the level of viewpoint will not have much influence. However, if you are close to the subject, the influence of viewpoint height is very great. Sometimes in order to shoot the scene and reflection into the lens at the same time, it may be necessary to use a super wide-angle lens.

3. Introduce more thinking space

Jin Yutang's Reflection on Water Town

There are many things to reflect on, but how to choose? In fact, when the reflection is more interesting and meaningful than the real scene, it has been said that we can focus on shooting the reflection picture. For example, the water on the ground, because you can't see the complete face of the real scene, can increase a lot of imagination space, and the story of the picture will be stronger, so it is undeniable that reflection shooting is particularly eye-catching and more visually attractive.

Photography Class teaches you to take beautiful reflection photos in four steps.

Shooting reflection can create amazing works, but it is often more difficult than expected. This article will introduce some simple and easy-to-use tips to help you cope with the shooting of reflection photos.

1. basis

There are many forms of reflection, from landscape photography to macro photography, but here are some general basic techniques that can help you do better.

For the sake of depth of field, try to choose a small aperture such as f/1or a smaller aperture. This helps to enhance the reflection effect.

The focus depends on the distance between the subject and its reflection. First, try to focus on the subject, and then try to focus on the reflection. The results of the two will be slightly different. How to choose depends on the part you want to emphasize.

Finally, consider the angle of light and its influence on reflection. In the studio environment, you can control these to emphasize the reflection, but in the natural environment, you need to try different perspectives to find the best shooting angle.

2. Water and scenery

The magnificence, colors and patterns of nature are amazing. The photo below shows the snow-capped mountains reflected on the silent lake. Such a scene is a photographer's dream, but how can we express beauty to the greatest extent and shoot beautiful works?

First of all, shoot at the best moment of light, in the morning or before sunset. Be sure to bring a tripod and use various filters. Polarizer can help you eliminate the reflection on the water surface, and nd mirror (medium gray density mirror) can prevent the sky from overexposure.

Use the shutter for as long as possible to make the running water appear smooth. At the same time, we should also pay attention to the depth of field, light angle and focus.

3. Reflective objects

Reflection photos are not necessarily scenery photos with water. In our daily life, there are a lot of reflective surfaces, such as mirrors, glass, metals, ceramics and even painted wood.

It is important to remember that the reflecting surface does not absorb light, so if you use artificial light sources, you must carefully consider the angle and the amount of light. You can try lighting from above or behind.

Make sure that the surface of the subject is clean, without scratches or fingerprints, especially in the reflective position. This plane is relatively easy to operate.

Once the shooting surface is selected, try different subjects to see what kind of reflection effect you want. You can try anything you like, but the more interesting the shape, the better the reflection effect.

Practice and enjoy.

Reflection photos are often described as abstract, which I think is quite appropriate, but when taking reflection photos, the style of the photos depends entirely on you as a photographer.

You may want to make a mediocre photo shine with reflection, you may want to shoot a real scenery, or you may want to create a work of art with angles and light. Every photo contains happiness, and you can capture them freely.

The photographer photographed five birds who were fascinated by their reflections in the water.

According to the Daily Mail, British photographer Markhan Cox recently photographed a group of five birds "obsessed" with their reflection.

The photographer photographed five birds who were fascinated by their reflections in the water.

Hancox waited for a whole month in the bunker near the pond of a private forest farm in Hanbury, Worcestershire, England, and finally photographed the moment when a five-pointed star was deeply attracted by its reflection. (International Online)

Clever use of reflective works is meaningless.

The same scenery and ingenious composition can suddenly add color to another photographic work. Among them, clever use of reflection is one of the skills. Let's see how professional photographers deal with reflections, and maybe we can learn something.

What is "set each other off into interest"? This picture is the best interpretation of this idiom.

If you don't take a reflection in the composition, it's a good silhouette, but it's undoubtedly not that interesting.

The picture can contain the reflection of the water surface and the real sky, which can achieve the effect of "water and sky are one color".

In contrast, if there is no reflection on the water, the sky is beautiful and boring.

Look at another photo that only uses reflection:

The following works combine the reflection in the water with the real scene, which is more ingenious:

Photos with reflections are pleasing to the eye, and those without reflections are much more "amateur":

Reflective expression of dreamy images in landscape photography

In landscape photography, many authors skillfully show various reflections, and there are indeed many excellent works. Therefore, this paper wants to talk about the beauty of reflection from the perspective of photography.

The beauty of quiet reflection

Lijiang River is as green as jade, and the stone peaks in Yangshuo are majestic and beautiful, close to mountains and waters. The reflection of the mountain peak is elegant and moving, just like a fairy, which fully shows the quiet beauty of the reflection. In landscape photography, many works highlight the quiet beauty of reflection. However, some works shoot reflections, but the real scene does not appear on the screen, which reminds people of a quiet world from the quiet reflection.

Symmetrical reflection beauty

Reflection is always accompanied by its entity, that is, the "second self" of the entity. The so-called "inseparable" well describes the relationship between the real scene and the reflection. The reflection of many works, because it fully shows the beauty of symmetry, gives people rich beauty of association and symmetry. The beauty lies in that the reflection and the entity set each other off, and all parts of the scene, even the tiny plot, are perfect, just like a pair of conjoined babies, with a sense of humor and implicit beauty.

Symmetrical composition is formed by expanding the camera lens upwards and bringing the main scene into the picture with a quiet reflection. Symmetrical composition makes people feel full, balanced and harmonious, but it should also be changed to avoid rigidity.

Deformation beauty of reflection

Reflection comes from the entity, but under certain conditions, it is relatively independent and forms a completely different form from the entity. It is like an abstract concept expression in modern photography. If it is used well, it can make people have rich imagination at many levels. Such as shaking, distorted reflection, like naughty children's graffiti, but also like pure abstract curve patterns. For the viewer, let his own understanding arouse the wings of association and paint it with all kinds of colorful and wonderful colors.

With the turbulent changes of water waves, the deformed beauty of reflection splits into charming phantoms with different shapes and artistic conception. Some transformed reflections give vitality to the entity through the contrast between dynamic and static, curved and straight.

Shoot reflection

Wonderful reflections can be seen everywhere: rivers and fishing ports, lakes and ponds, stagnant water after rain, smooth floors and ice. And you can almost see all kinds of reflections. Whether it is direct light, scattered light or even night light, there will be reflection. As long as the photographer pays a little attention, it is not difficult to capture attractive masterpieces.

Specifically, you need to pay attention to the following points when shooting:

1. It is necessary to understand the characteristics of various reverse colors, master moderate exposure data, and correctly select the shutter, aperture combination and viewing angle. Because most reflections are generated on the water surface, bright reflections will deceive photographers and exposure meters, resulting in the illusion that the illumination is higher than the actual state. At this time, the aperture should be opened to compensate. To ensure accurate exposure, it is best to take more photos in stages and choose the most satisfactory one. The water often reflects light. In order to prevent lens glare, it is best to add a polarizer when shooting.

2. Composition should be mastered: the ratio of distant reflection to real scene is similar; Due to the different heights of viewpoints, the closer the reflection is, the more points are displayed. The number of reflections is inversely proportional to the height of the viewpoint. Except for special needs, it is generally not appropriate to put the reflection in the normal water of the picture to form symmetry, and it should be slightly biased to one side, so that the composition will change uniformly and evenly to avoid rigidity.

3. The reflection in the breeze will often be divided into strips or deformed illusions, and intermittent or partial reflections will also appear on uneven roads due to accumulated water. At this time, you will often get unexpected results. Photographers should not miss this opportunity easily.

4. Neither reflection nor entity should be perfect. We should shoot more real scenes and less reflections, more reflections and less real scenes, or even all reflections without real scenes, depending on the scene situation and performance intention. Some distorted reflections are well taken. There will be interesting things to do.

Here is a supplementary introduction to a shooting technique to obtain reflection effect. Put a glass mirror about 10x 12cm under the camera lens. Because the lens angle can accommodate the glass mirror, the subject and the reflected image on the glass mirror will be brought into the lens together, and a charming "lake" will miraculously appear before you shoot the real scene, so as to obtain an "artificial" reflection photo, which can be taken skillfully and confused with the real one. However, it should be noted that such photos can only be taken with a single-lens reflex camera. Because the composition can only be observed directly from the camera frame, and the best effect can be obtained by continuous adjustment; In addition, the shooting viewpoint should be lower than the horizon of the subject, otherwise the reflection of the scene will not be seen from the picture.