Photographing reflections in water

Monday 5 July 2021, 20:10 by Nando Harmsen | 9,138 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Water can work as a beautiful mirror. A lake, mere or pond will often do the job. As long as the water is still. If your subject is not surrounded by water, a puddle will do too. Hasn't it rained? Make your own puddle.

We all photograph a reflection in water from time to time. The reflection of a castle in a moat, or the silhouettes of trees at sunrise. You need still, or almost still, water for this.

Dawn with the reflection in a canal. We often see this kind of reflection in landscape photography
But there isn't always a beautiful stretch of water available, unless it has rained. The puddles left behind after a heavy shower are perfect for photographing reflections. You can make grateful use of them.

All you need is a decent puddle of rainwater for photographing reflections. You just have to stay very close to the surface of the water.
You can photograph straight down into the puddle. The world is then reflected beautifully in the wet part of the road. But if you hold your camera very low above the puddle, a small puddle suddenly becomes an apparently enormous stretch of water.

A normal photo of this old industrial complex is not very special.

The same complex, but reflected in a puddle of rainwater. This suddenly makes it very interesting.
Try to stay as low above the water as possible, almost with the camera in the water. This often gives the best effect. But you can also adjust the height until you are happy with the composition. This allows you to capture most places in a unique way.

Is there no water available? Hasn't it rained for days, or can you not find any puddles anywhere? Then you can of course make your own puddle. The only thing you need is... water.

Take a bottle of water with you, or a jerry can. Find a level stretch of road so the water stays in place and pour it onto the ground just in front of your camera. It helps if you already know or have prepared the composition, so you can start photographing straight away.

As you saw in the video, this is not easy. But don't let that put you off and practise a lot. So make sure you bring enough water, so you don't have to stop after a single attempt.

The result of making your own puddle. Unfortunately, the ground was sloping after all, so I didn't get a large enough water surface.
Feel free to lie down on the ground to photograph properly. Do pay attention to your own safety. Avoid dangerous situations. Does your camera have a tilting screen? Use it. Do you have a DSLR? Then photograph using live view. Make it as easy as possible for yourself.

A muddy pool of water in the meadow was enough to create this image.

A puddle of rainwater beside the pavement. It immediately transforms the photo into something special.

You can of course also use small ditches and streams. As long as you photograph low enough above the water.
Do you have another tip for this kind of photography? Share it in a comment below this post. That way, we can continue to inspire each other to create beautiful and unique images.

Share: WhatsApp Facebook

About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

Seeing and photographing reflections
by Erik Nevels
Control reflections with a polarising filter
by Erik Nevels
Street photography tip: Reflections are everywhere, use them
by Michiel Heijmans
Street photography tip: Use water for surprising compositions
by Michiel Heijmans
Portrait photography tip: Throw your model in the water
by Elja Trum
Striking portraits with a water shoot
by Elja Trum

Show every article in Inspiration

home

4 comments

Toon wrote on Tuesday 6 July 2021 at 13:14 | reply
Thanks Nando for the simple but fun tips. (It doesn't always have to be difficult or complicated).
Translated from Dutch.

John Kraak wrote on Tuesday 6 July 2021 at 16:21 | reply
Hello Nando, what a nice article about reflections in the water. I’m definitely going to test that out
Translated from Dutch.

martinphili wrote on Tuesday 6 July 2021 at 18:55 | reply
We, a number of car photographer friends, have been doing this for a bit longer. We even gave it a name: a puddlegram.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Wednesday 7 July 2021 at 09:33 | reply
@martinphili:
It indeed isn't new, this method. That name you have is really funny... puddlegram
Translated from Dutch.

Have your say

Please note: Articles older than a week can only be commented on by signed-in visitors.
Would you still like to comment? sign in or create a free account.

Become a better photographer every week

A practical photography tip in your inbox every week.
39,103 photography enthusiasts already receive the tips! More about the weekly mail. Or keep up to date via Facebook. Sign-up secured with Google reCaptcha.

Elja Trum

Photofacts; everything to do with photography!

Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about Photofacts

Photofacts is made possible in part by