The Secret of Gorgeous Reflection Photographs: 36 Amazing Links and Examples

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Reflections are a powerful photography element that can elevate an image from the ordinary to the extraordinary.  This list features a hand selected collection of photographs that showcases dramatic reflections cast by many different sources, revealing how a composition that includes this element can be elevated.  We hope you enjoy checking out this selection of great shots as much as we did in bringing this list to you.

Reflections

A Moraine Morning – Jeff Lewis showcases a beautiful image that features the still waters of a lake in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.  The early morning casts wonderful natural light on the scene, and the crisp reflections from the water’s surface adds a great element to this composition.

under the rainbow . . . – Vancouver Island based photographer ƊƦคƓ๏ƝŦlץƊгєคɱʂ88 captures a distinctly west-coast shot that features a beach under a blue and warm sky.  The finishing touch for this shot is a gorgeous reflection of a rainbow that arches across the sky.


“Misty Reflection” – Toad Hollow Photography

Nature's Awakening – this great landscape shot features the tip of a rugged mountain range illuminated by golden light, with a still pool of water in the foreground to act as a mirror.  Daniel emphasizes dramatic contrast in this shot to highlight texture and depth, bringing this beautiful image to life.

Wood Stork Reflection – Anne McKinnell shares a terrific photograph of a stork in shallow waters with one leg extended upwards.  The terrific reflection of this incredible bird mirrors the abundant personality it exhibits, delivering a piece that showcases how a mirrored reflection can add so much to wildlife images.

Monongahela Fireworks – the reflection in this shot cuts the composition in half, creating a mirrored copy of the vibrant autumn colors that pulls the viewer into the heart of the frame.  The soft waters are rippled in this shot, creating a reflection that holds all the wonder of the actual landscape dissolved in the gentle movements of the mirrored surface.

Patiently Waiting – Maroon Bells, Aspen, Colorado – the wonderful landscapes of Colorado reveal rugged mountains and gently rolling hills that cast a beautiful portrait of nature.  In this shot, Len Saltiel takes advantage of the waters in the foreground to cast a partial reflection of the colorful trees that line the hillside, taking this picture to the next proverbial level.

Spirit Island – this is another shot in this list that features the dramatic beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.  Jirina Bilkova takes advantage of the natural and powerful compositions that are evident throughout the area, in this case featuring the world-famous Spirit Island on Maligne Lake.  The movement in the lake itself creates a muted reflection in this shot, creating a painterly feel.

Puddle reflections
Dragan

Puddled Reflections – this shot from Edith Levy uses pools captured along the shore to create a multitude of tiny reflections, casting truly interesting beauty found in nature back to the viewer in a wonderful and unusual way.  The dramatic clouds lingering overhead add the perfect dash of drama into the scene.

Manhattan under fog – this shot is more than just a reflection, it’s full of wonderful details that embody the spirit of Manhattan itself.  In this picture by Domingo Leiva, a long shutter duration is used to turn the waters into a silky tapestry that reflects the lights from the city in a way that lends to a sense of artistic tension.

Amsterdam Canals, Holland – a portrait of one of the world's most famous cities finds additional interest in the reflections cast in the moving waters of the canals that wind their way throughout the city itself.  The ribbons of color cast from the lights of the homes that sit on the canal add a wonderful element to this piece that draws the viewer in for a closer look.  Photo by Remo Scarfò.

Holland – Remo Scarfò delivers another breathtaking shot that we feature in this list, this time focusing on the world-renowned windmills that dot the landscape of Holland.  The beautiful colors in the sky are reflected in the negative space of this shot, filling in that particular area of the composition with beautiful pastel colors.

Loch Lomond reflections – Jim Nix visits a wonder that can only be found in the Scottish landscape, that is a delightful Loch sitting under a misty sky.  The glassy reflection from the still waters of the Loch itself are astounding, adding a perfect element to this amazing landscape piece.

Sunday Pond Reflections
Christopher Mills

Dark Night – Mohamed Raouf delivers a stunning monochromatic cityscape study that utilizes a gently moving body of water in the foreground to add a terrific element in the form of a reflection.  Incredible details in the buildings and moored boats that dominate the scene find a sense of dynamism in the gentle reflection in the lower half of the frame.

Auto Abstracts – Jimi Jones shares a pair of car shots that feature reflections beaming off the shiny surfaces that are found pretty much literally everywhere at this venue.  Colors and light dance off the reflective surfaces of these classics, showcasing how reflections of a different kind can be a terrific photography element to include in compositions.

My Home – this shot from Cuma Çevik takes advantage of the stark white environment found in a snow-covered landscape to create and share a gorgeous shot that features a home on the shore amidst the after-effects of a snowstorm.  The beautiful detail in the home finds a soft reflection in the waters in the foreground, creating a sense of beauty that is truly inviting for the viewer.

Reflected Reality – this pair of shots comes to us from Andy Hooker (LensScaper), composing the reeds in a lake in a way to accent the reflections in the scene explored.  The second shot focuses only on the reflections themselves, creating a wonderful abstract piece that can only be found and captured in nature.

shipwreck – this shot takes the artistic tension that is inherently found in an old shipwreck to a new level with the muted reflection of the skeleton of the ship breaking up the negative space around the core subject.  This wonderful shot by nikos Bantouvakis tells a great story of a ship's life, now long forgotten as the remains lie prone on the shores.

Reflections Bruges Belgium
keith ellwood

What Are You Seeing? – a terrific monochromatic piece is posted here by Bob Lussier, taking advantage of a crisp reflection of a small house sitting beyond a sheet of ice.  The great contrasts explored in the black-and-white processing Bob used also helps to accent the depth of the shot, sharing a sense of the scale of the scene as it presented itself to him.

Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, Italy – this great shot uses a reflection to create and accent a leading line from an old bridge that crosses a body of water.  Roman Havlíček’s image takes the viewer on a voyage of discovery as you follow the natural lines into the heart of the frame, where dramatic architecture pops to life on our screens.

Flight Deck of The Yorktown – sometimes a reflection isn’t the key factor in a great shot, as exemplified in this photograph by Michael Criswell.  Michael has the chance to visit an aircraft carrier and do a little bit of photography, and in turn he comes away with a terrific flightdeck shot that has all sorts of great attributes, and the best one is the tiny reflection of the wheel of the airplane in a still pool of water on deck, filling in that spot of negative space with a terrific feature.

Bergen lights – the beautiful lights of a community dance across the gently moving waters in the foreground, reflecting color and creating a perfect natural leading arch across the frame.  Rune Hansen’s photograph features terrific colors, sharing a sense of the spirit and character of this beautiful spot on Earth.

Wharf in Bergen – this shot is taken in the same place as the one above, we believe, this time revealing a glimpse of the community in a panoramic format by photographer Eirik Sørstrømmen.  Once again, we find details and colors converging to share a feel of the town itself, leaving the viewer yearning for more.

The Road Quite Traveled – Rachel Cohen uses the vibrant colors of autumn leaves as a source to create abstract swatches of color on a body of moving water.  The great details in the upper half of the shot find harmony against the gently muted colors created in the reflection below, creating an image that has lasting power in the mind of the viewer.

Reflections
Rvs1966

Good Night Shanghai XXXV – Herison Black delivers a stunning view of this incredible city, taken in the heart of night and featuring a terrific reflection in the lower half of the frame.  The dramatic architecture of the city literally pops right out of our monitors on this shot that reveals more for those who are inclined to spend time taking in the finer details.

Reflections – a delightful shot featuring a beautiful white swan slowly making its way across a body of water is presented here by John “flick” Purchase.  In keeping with this list’s theme, a wonderful reflection of the bird in motion cuts the frame in half, creating a quasi-mirrored version in the lower part of the frame that benefits from the gentle waves created by motion.

Winter magic – even though the snowfall is created in Photoshop, the overall feel exhibited in this piece is immutable.  Jukka Pinonummi captures a delightful scene in this northern community, finding further interest in the silky waters in the foreground that cast a very soft reflection and add a terrific layer to the shot.

Reflections Of The Burj – this carefully blended frame comes from the studio of Daniel Cheong, one of my personal favorite cityscape photographers practicing today.  Daniel uses a pool as a perfect mirror to capture a dramatic architectural feature in the city of Dubai, adding a wonderful layer to the scene explored and captured here.

Sveta – this shot is of a portrait of a young lady apparently leaning into a glass pane, creating a terrific reflection of her face that adds so much interest to the image.  Георгий Чернядьев (Georgy Chernyadyev) shows how reflections cast by glass can be a very powerful element in a great photograph.

Reflection
Axel Naud

Reflection – this is a wonderful landscape shot that would be nowhere near as compelling as it currently is if not for the reflection.  kiekmal’s creation uses a wide landscape view with lingering clouds overhead to create a strong sense of balance and dynamism to deliver a truly mesmerizing shot to view and enjoy.

Reflection – Rudolf Vlček’s image is our final photograph in this special list, and the frame is entirely filled with the reflection here.  As a man walks through the view, Rudolf snaps a shot that is exquisitely framed and full of rich artistic tension, delivering a shot sure to draw everyone into it on a personal voyage of revelation as we all find our personal interpretations.

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I am a fine arts photographer that specializes in HDR techniques. Please feel free to visit our Limited Edition Prints site, our Online Gallery or our lively Photoblog.

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