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I was upstairs yesterday when I noticed the light was coming through a window pretty horizontally and shining off our chandelier. When I got everything set up to take the photos, I noticed that various parts of the walls, ceiling, etc. were creating symmetrical natural framing at the angle I was shooting at to get the sun's reflection.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/5.5
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 80
Monopod
So I'm pretty happy with this photo. I cooled down the temperature a bit in Photoshop, because I like the facets of the glass when they're a cyan-ish blue. I also had to clone out some gross cobwebs. I guess you don't notice them until you're photographing them.
In other news, I borrowed a Canon Rebel XSi from the yearbook class at my school to take photos for my article in the upcoming issue of our school paper. I mostly borrowed it to try it out. Holy cow. I can't wait for mine to get here.
Yesterday evening, I was driving home when I noticed another one of those snow-melt puddles that collect all over the road. They make great reflective surfaces, but I saw that it looked even better at night; almost like a perfect mirror. As soon as I got home, I grabbed my gear and headed to the nearest suitable location.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/4.5
Shutter Speed: 5 seconds
ISO: 80
Tripod
It turned out really nicely, I think. I completely ignored my light meter; it doesn't know what I want. The composition worked out well, and I'm glad to have a rock-solid tripod to hold my camera for really long exposures like this. Even at 5 seconds, I believe this was "underexposed" by about a stop.
In hindsight, maybe a slightly higher ISO would have worked for this. I really wanted to bring out the texture and contrast between the reflective areas of wet pavement and the shadows in the same pavement. On the other hand, the black would have been way more grainy than I wanted it. Maybe 80 was the way to go, but next time I'll be trying various ISOs.
I did almost nothing in PP. Bumped the contrast up by 3%, and added a somewhat large, but still rather unnoticeable vignette.
Anyway, this is my rebellious "break-all-the-rules" photo attempt. Severely underexposed, the histogram looks terrible, and I added a giant obvious vignette (which doesn't really count as rule-breaking, but it's definitely personal-code breaking).
Inspired by Weekend Reflections.
I've been noticing for weeks while driving that little pools of melted snow collect along the curbs, and have pretty startlingly clear reflections. I finally had some free time today, so I went out and shot the first one I could find. It had a pretty interesting subject in the reflection, but the composition is super iffy.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 80
Monopod
Also, the photo has too many elements in it. It's hard to decide what to look at. The one good thing that can be said about this is that the exposure went really well. That doesn't make up for the fact that I would rather look at the histogram than the photo though.
Oh, well. One of these days, I'll see a good shot in one of these pools, and pull over and take it. Inspiration seems to strike when it's most inconvenient. But that's when I need to take it.
One thing I love about being a photographer is that I can randomly notice something, think, "that would be a good picture," and in no time, I end up with more photo material to post-process when I get home to my computer.
That happened to me yesterday, and here's the result.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
The composition is a bit iffy, but I was a little constrained in that I had to shoot from a certain angle to get the right things in the reflection. But I like the colors and the contrast.
Sometimes, reflections can seriously hinder your photography (like when you're trying to shoot through a window and it's darker on the other side). But more often, reflections can provide a beautiful sense of symmetry.
When used correctly, a reflection will make your photo much more dynamic. Water in particular seems to reflect things beautifully, especially colors, but that's not the only thing. Reflecting things off of a curved mirror makes your subject more interesting, and catching a glare off of a shiny car window or something adds interest. Try experimenting with different effects you can achieve with reflections. Post links to any good images in the comments!
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
