Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Fortnightly Challenge August 6 - 19 : Reflection
- Thread starter Designer Dale
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Board Reflection
When I took this I didn't even notice the reflection on the board. She almost look alien-esque(probably not a word). Anyways, we had a good laugh afterwards. There's also an interesting reflection in her goggles but it's to small for much detail. The pic was taken at Whistler and it's cropped from a larger pic.
When I took this I didn't even notice the reflection on the board. She almost look alien-esque(probably not a word). Anyways, we had a good laugh afterwards. There's also an interesting reflection in her goggles but it's to small for much detail. The pic was taken at Whistler and it's cropped from a larger pic.
Attachments
Yeah, I'm glad I shot that one in RAW the camera didn't do the white balance very well. I just had a chance to edit the RAW file, so here's that one:
Sorry I haven't had a chance to comment on anyone else's photos yet, I'm away now with a really slow internet so I'm loading this stuff text only. I'll look at the rest when I get home next week.
I've been lucky to get some reflection shots recently...
Image
View from White Rocks Trail, Boulder, Colorado
1/320s, f/8, 55mm, ISO 100
Canon Rebel T2i + 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
The photo above was taken on August 7th. Here is another I took in June:
Image
Hot Air Balloons over Boulder, Colorado
1/200s, f/7.1, 24mm, ISO 100
Canon Rebel T2i + 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Finally, here is one I took in late July... the sky appears much darker because of the different lens:
Image
Blue Lake and Mount Toll, Colorado
1/500s, f/8, 10mm, ISO 100
Canon Rebel T2i + 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Here are my comments for some of the other photos:
mackmgg, it took me a minute to realize the letters on the side of the boat are actually a phrase. Classic. BTW, it might be worth adjusting the white balance so that the boat is less blue (I'm assuming it should be white).
gnd, I really like your reflection shot. Makes me wonder which way is up.
BarryJ, I also really enjoyed your flower and lilypad shot. The dappled light and dark background really make the flower stand out.
Love the hot air balloon shot. Really nice colors and the wide crop works well with the pic. A mirror still lake would've been great but it's still a wonderful shot.
----------
I like this much warmer picture a lot better than the first one. Adds more interest and mood.
----------
Beautiful. Love that silty blue water. Where is this? I might be tempted to get rid of the boat. I don't know...in some ways it adds to the scale and significance and in other ways it distracts because it's so tiny. It really makes me miss big mountains though.
Your car reflection picture reminded me of one I have.
I liked the farmhouse across the street that reflected into this truck's bumper.
Truck Grill and Bumper by Gerg1967, on Flickr
Very nicely done, Keleko. No rust on this baby (like some of your cars in the past
). The farm scene in the bumber is capitaveting.Thanks Jeff, it is a view of Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada from the top floor of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Worth every penny!
Ravaroo: I think you have two good photos here, but, in my opinion, they could be improved significantly by adjusting the exposure.
In the shoe picture, the shoes are the focus, but my eye goes immediately to the lamp and struggles to move over to the shoes.
Original:
With Exposure increased by +1.0:
With subtle HDR/Tone Mapping:
When I upped the exposure, I wasn't happy with the way the lightbulb was brighter. I decided to put this in Photomatix, using your original, plus 4 copies with the exposure dropped by -1, and increased by +1, +2 and +3. The resulting lightbulb is slightly less pronounced than in the original, my eyes now go directly to the shoes, and I'm happier with some of the detail in the shadows that came out using this process. (The differences between the three versions is more noticeable in Aperture, where the image is less compressed.)
The reflection in the spikes, especially the near shoe, and that in the reflected heel, bother me in all 3 versions, but could be adjusted in Photoshop or another editing program.
My last thought on the shoes: I like the angle of the front shoe, and the angle of the reflection of the back shoe. In a perfect world, (aka Disney Princess world), Cinderella would have just one shoe with one reflection. You might have shot it twice, with one shoe at each angle, and then layered and masked in PS or PS Elements. (That actually might be fun to try!)
I thought the mother/daughter image was also dark, and would again be improved by increasing the exposure and other levels. Consider converting it a 50%-75% Sepia Tone, a B&W, or a B&W with a 50%-75% Sepia Tone over it.
I'm still learning, so others are welcome to critique my critique, so that both Ravaroo AND I can continue to learn.
Like this:
Thanks for your comment
gnd: That's quite a nice shot, very creative use of the reflections in a different way.
I like how the reflection of the plane's lights are sharp (since they were stationary in the frame while panning) while the reflection of the background lights is blurred.
I've been lucky to get some reflection shots recently...
View from White Rocks Trail, Boulder, Colorado
The photo above was taken on August 7th. Here is another I took in June:
Hot Air Balloons over Boulder, Colorado
Finally, here is one I took in late July... the sky appears much darker because of the different lens:
Blue Lake and Mount Toll, Colorado
gnd, I really like your reflection shot. Makes me wonder which way is up.
Thanks!
The first photo looks great, but I miss something. I think I am bothered by the split down the middle of the frame, blank sky on the top and the bottom doesn't look good. I'd either show more of the water or more of the sky. It would have helped if there were some clouds in the sky, that would have made the split easier to manage.
I love the balloon shot, it looks very clear. Very nice composition.
The third one is another beautiful shot. I really like the reflection dissolving into the revealed lake bottom. It creates a kind of an illusion connecting the sky and the ground.
Beautiful location and light, nice capture. Could use an ND Grad on the top and I'd clone the boat on the left edge out, but beautiful non the lessreflection ...
thanks for the feedback, Waybo
PP is definitely my weakest skill at the moment.. followed closely by composition and exposure
Going on 5 months now with my first slr (digital or otherwise) and working to improve every day
Early Spring in New England
This is my favorite reflection photo. I thought it should have placed in a contest here, and was a little surprised that it didn't.
Then I used it on another forum, for a contest on Rules of Thirds. It placed a very dismal 88th out of 94, with no comments to help me understand why if placed so poorly.
It appears that others don't think it's as good as I thought it was. Can you help me figure out what others are seeing that I'm missing?
It's not placing poorly that bothers me as much as not understanding the "Why." Please don't hesitate to be brutal!
Many thanks,
~Waybo
This is my favorite reflection photo. I thought it should have placed in a contest here, and was a little surprised that it didn't.
Then I used it on another forum, for a contest on Rules of Thirds. It placed a very dismal 88th out of 94, with no comments to help me understand why if placed so poorly.
It appears that others don't think it's as good as I thought it was. Can you help me figure out what others are seeing that I'm missing?
It's not placing poorly that bothers me as much as not understanding the "Why." Please don't hesitate to be brutal!
Many thanks,
~Waybo
Very nicely done, Keleko. No rust on this baby (like some of your cars in the past
Here's an early spring car reflection shot. The tree behind/above was well centered in the trunk. Also, no rust on this one, either.
Canon 60d car pics by Gerg1967, on Flickr
Image
This is my favorite reflection photo. I thought it should have placed in a contest here, and was a little surprised that it didn't.
Then I used it on another forum, for a contest on Rules of Thirds. It placed a very dismal 88th out of 94, with no comments to help me understand why if placed so poorly.
It appears that others don't think it's as good as I thought it was. Can you help me figure out what others are seeing that I'm missing?
It's not placing poorly that bothers me as much as not understanding the "Why." Please don't hesitate to be brutal!
Many thanks,
~Waybo
What bothers me upfront is the plants sticking up in the foreground. They block some of the reflections of the sky in the water, and we don't see where they originate from. I realize there's not much you can do about them being there. Also I don't think the scene is all that interesting overall. There's nothing really there that says, "Hey, look at me!", at least not to me. I hope I'm not being too brutal.
Here's an early spring car reflection shot. The tree behind/above was well centered in the trunk. Also, no rust on this one, either.
[url=http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5265/5590600366_60f6d5552e_b.jpg]Image[/url]
Canon 60d car pics by Gerg1967, on Flickr
What bothers me upfront is the plants sticking up in the foreground. They block some of the reflections of the sky in the water, and we don't see where they originate from. I realize there's not much you can do about them being there. Also I don't think the scene is all that interesting overall. There's nothing really there that says, "Hey, look at me!", at least not to me. I hope I'm not being too brutal.
I agree with Keleko. What would have made the picture a little better is if you could capture it with completely still water. This may not always be possible. However, if this site is readily available to you, seasonal change with leaf color would definitely boost the scene, so I'd give it a go and try again. If you do post it here let us see. This site is great for constructive criticism that helps us all continue to grow and improve as photographers, IMO.
Keleko, another winner with the refelction in the car photo. I love all of the colors in this one. A very creative and artistic photo.
This is my favorite reflection photo. I thought it should have placed in a contest here, and was a little surprised that it didn't.
Then I used it on another forum, for a contest on Rules of Thirds. It placed a very dismal 88th out of 94, with no comments to help me understand why if placed so poorly.
It appears that others don't think it's as good as I thought it was. Can you help me figure out what others are seeing that I'm missing?
It's not placing poorly that bothers me as much as not understanding the "Why." Please don't hesitate to be brutal!
Many thanks,
~Waybo
I'll offer my two cents, for what it's worth. You were certainly shooting on a nice day--pretty, puffy clouds like that tend to look great in photos, especially when you have some water reflecting the sky. You also had a good instinct to include a foreground, middle ground, and background in your photo.
Here's how the photo "reads" pictorially: The eye is always drawn to light, so the sky here gets a lot of attention. The one reflected cloud stands out against the dark color of the water in the foreground, so it also draws attention. The strongest lines of the photo are the shorelines and tree lines, which all converge at the center of the photo (more or less), where we see some leafless trees and taller pines in the background. Since the 'lines' of the photo lead us to that point, it's where we expect to find some kind of visual pay-off, but we don't.
The strongest lines in your photo are these:
(I'm taking the liberty of drawing lines on your photo, but I will take the photo down immediately if you object.)
The lines you have indicated don't quite follow the really operative lines in the photo, and we don't find a subject or visual pay-off at any of their four intersections anyway. The Rule of Thirds (or perhaps better named the "Rule Against the Center") is a handy tool for positioning the point in your photo where the eye can 'land' between explorations of the frame. In this photo we don't have such a point, so the photo seems unresolved.
Using your photo with the lines of the thirds, I have indicated the four possible zones where we might expect to find the point of visual resolution:
(Again, please just let me know if you'd like me to remove the photo.)
So in a photo contest on the Rule of Thirds, one would expect the point of greatest interest to fall within one of these four zones (roughly, of course).
A few other notes: Keep in mind that branches jutting up in the foreground tend to look messy and amount to distractions, especially when they cross something we want to see (the reflected cloud, for example), and especially when they intersect with the very point to which the photo's main lines are leading us (the center, in this case).
So, to summarize... (you did say to be brutal!
)... 1) The photo needs a stronger subject/point of visual resolution/home base for the eye
2) The lines of the photo lead us to the center, making the image rather static.
3) The branches in the foreground clutter up the image.
For what it's worth, I find these kinds of locations very difficult to photograph as landscapes because strong subjects are hard to come by, and it's usually difficult to get a clean shot without distracting branches getting in the way (you'd probably have to do some wading). They are, however, usually quite good for bird photos, so that's something you might try there if you live nearby.
So there you have it. Hope I've helped.
Waybo: I think your photo has a lot to offer, but comes off a bit flat for me. My comment is that there is a bit too much going on in the frame. Sky and trees use about the same % of the frame as the water does. I cropped it down a bit to see if that would help.
This is my take on the topic.
![]()
EXIF Summary: 1/200s f/6.3 ISO100 Tamron 28-75 f/2.8@28mm
Dale
This is my take on the topic.
EXIF Summary: 1/200s f/6.3 ISO100 Tamron 28-75 f/2.8@28mm
Dale
Attachments
Here's another reflection ...
90mm, f/6.7, 1/45s, ISO200, CPL
This is absolute ultra cool! Love the distortion that the glass gives to the buildings. Great colors and all that good stuff. I was going to suggest cropping off that roof in the lower right center of the frame, but it helps to ground the overall image. It makes me want to spin my little top to see if I'm awake or not..
Dale
Here are a couple reflections that I shot looking out over the Nisqually Delta from a bird observation blind.
This one was given enough post to fill the shadows and give more a feel of where the viewer is.
![]()
This one was processed in PhotoShop using the Skew selection to take the distortion out of the window frame.
![]()
What do you think?
Dale
This one was given enough post to fill the shadows and give more a feel of where the viewer is.
This one was processed in PhotoShop using the Skew selection to take the distortion out of the window frame.
What do you think?
Dale
Nice one. The bumper and grill fill the frame with just enough background to make it obvious what we're looking at. I'm glad I don't have to keep it polished!I liked the farmhouse across the street that reflected into this truck's bumper.
Truck Grill and Bumper by Gerg1967, on Flickr
I like this one too, but not because of there is more of the puddle, which as you can see doesn't add much of interest beyond the reflection. I went for this composition because I liked having longer lines of corn and road, but then the mountains have less presence in the frame. Maybe it's not much of a loss, though. I'll be interested to hear which one others prefer.
At least, I think this is what you mean by a "lowered" camera (i.e. here it's angled down and zoomed out more). Moving the camera itself lower to the ground caused the corn to obscure more of the church and all of the mountains, so that angle didn't appeal to me at all. I actually had to shoot with my center column fully extended and the camera well over my head in order to see over the corn.
I prefer the first one myself. That's a really nice photo. I like the way the focus is concentrated in that one.
The second one is an interesting variation in that it shows more of the scene but as you say, going lower doesn't really add anything to the foreground. I think though, it might make a nice w/a picture if the bottom was cropped off to be the same as in the first.
A vertical crop of the church and the puddle could make an interesting variation too.
Here are a couple reflections that I shot looking out over the Nisqually Delta from a bird observation blind.
This one was given enough post to fill the shadows and give more a feel of where the viewer is.
This one was processed in PhotoShop using the Skew selection to take the distortion out of the window frame.
What do you think?
Dale
The first one gives me a sense of what you're looking through so the skew looks fine. I'm not so sure about the second. Lovely view, but the detail of the wood on the left and the darkness on the right make it a bit unbalanced. Could you try standing a bit further left and catch some of the light on the right another time? The darkness frames the view nicely though.