Reflection Photography
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| Green Umbrella Last year I was attending a weekly photography course when I embarked on a project of my choice. I had never given myself a 'photography project' before. I tended to take pictures of subjects I liked-mainly wildlife up to this point. I had never thought about shooting the same sort of themes over a few weeks or months that were all in some way connected. For ages I had been seeing a reflection on the street I work on in Edinburgh. Every time it rained a hollow in the the pavement would swell up with water and show a great domed rooftop in it's reflection-something that made me keep thinking-'I need to take a photo of that' 
Royal Edinburgh Society
Sometimes it can be hard to decide what kind of topic to pick . It needs to be original, keep you interested and not be twee. You might want to ask yourself what you hope to achieve from completing the project and also what you want to learn. A good starting point can also hold your attention for a longer time-although I took this picture over a year ago, I still walk past it now. and look to see how it changes at different times of then day, depending on the light.
So I had decided on reflections. What now? My main interest was in puddles I became obsessed (and still am). While other people complained about the wet weather- I was checking the forecast-hoping it would rain on my day off so I could go out and try and find some interesting reflections to capture! On the days where it was dry and sunny I would turn my interest to glass. I particularly liked this shot. It felt slightly surreal and had a little of the Renee Magritte about it.
  When trying to capture reflections in water it's also important to wait until there is little wind and your reflected image is clear and reasonably sharp. Obviously this might not always be the desired effect if you want to show the way water can distort the images reflected. With the pictures of Leith I took another more cropped image and then turned it upside down to show pretty much the same scene but only the way it was presented in the water. This can almost make the images look like paintings.
During the project the were some images that were very considered. A few of the images I had passed by many times and I had a strong idea about how I wanted to capture them. Other images were taken by complete chance like the one of the runner caught in this enormous puddle. Other images were taking using zone focusing -that is focusing your lens on a particular area and waiting for something or someone to come into the frame.
This is how I managed to get the image at the top of the post of a shopper with a green umbrella caught in the reflection of a wet pavement.
You may also come across things that look ordinary at first but when captured in a reflection can look very different. The house and post picture is of the gable end of a house caught in a puddle but flipped to make it upright, but the grid for the drain is now round the wrong way. The composition may look slightly straight forward at first until you look at it more closely. The other thing I have learnt from this project is to not care about those around you. Some people will be genuinely interested in what you are doing, but if it's taking pictures of random things in puddles be prepared for some awkward glances! Don't let it concern you-just be immersed in what you are doing.
I had great fun with this project. I managed to get some shots that I had wanted to take for ages and also some surprise ones too. Deciding to take a series of photos for a certain reason can be a really rewarding thing to do. It may be something you have been thinking about for a while. or an idea may just hit you one day. Here are a few ideas to get you started!
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