Taking reflection photos is a lot of fun. You come across a stunning reflected scene in a lake or you see the light strike a glass window just right and produce a beautiful reflection, and you want to capture the scene just so. While it’s hard to take a bad photo of a great reflection, transforming a good photo into a great photo is easier said than done.
It’s possible to take great reflection photos in virtually any location. You don’t need to be on a Lake Michigan beach at sunrise or in front of the capitol reflecting pool in Washington DC during golden hour to produce a stunning image. Of course, these locations are ideal for reflections. However, you shouldn’t feel limited to such destinations at peak photography times of the day. I took the above photo mid-day during a recent excursion to the Chicago Botanic Garden.
When most people think of great reflection photos, they think of water reflections. I’m drawn to the water (shocking, right?) and love taking lake reflection photos as much anyone else. But you can produce great reflection photos with virtually any surface that creates a reflection from mirrored sunglasses to glass windows to wedding jewelry. The above photo is an older photo (early 2013) that I still love of a Lake Michigan reflection on a set of glass doors at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
I had a lot of fun creating a few reflection images with our Playmobile wedding couple figures (see more images with them here) and my wedding ring. Of course, you can replicate this technique with a human wedding couple, too. Search Pinterest for “wedding ring reflection” for more inspiration.
I’m sharing my best quick tips for great reflection photos over on the Photorec.tv blog this week. The images in the Photorec post that are not my own are from the Photorec community who tagged their images #PRTV and #reflection on Instagram. Learn more about the Photorec community and how you can become a member of the fantastic support group.
Do you have any additional tips for great reflection photos?
Leave them here or on the Photorec blog!
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I love your Playmobile wedding photos!
You mention angles in your post – it’s amazing how you can get really expansive looking reflection photos with a smallish puddle by getting low and playing with the angle.
Thanks! Yes, for sure!
Love all the photography tips I can get and so true about using angles with reflections. Now I will be even more hyper-alert for reflections than normal! lol
I love your photography tips! So true about always considering the angle, and taking a mix of realistic and abstract compositions. Another big factor to keep in mind is wind – there’s nothing worse than seeing the perfection reflection and then having the wind mess up your photo!
So true! Great tip!
So happy to have come across your site, on a quest to improve my photography!
I am really liking your photography tips!! They are simple to understand and quick reads, with valuable info.
The lakes around here are rather muddy, so reflections don’t look as good. I have a few reflection in pond photos that I like, but I would love to get a shot of a reflection of something on a shiny surface, like your mirrored doors. Plus the wedding figure reflections are amazing!