60 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
Urban Projects
PROJECT ONE
LOOK IN REFLECTIONS
FOR STRIKING SHOTS
R
EGULAR STREET
scenes can appear
tr ansformedwhen
they’re viewed
as a reflection.
All it takes is
a conveniently placed body
of water to give a whole new
perspective and composition
to dramatically alter the feel
of the scene you’re shooting.
It ’s an approach that needs
preparation, firstly to findthe
scene and then to ensure that
there’s a reflective surfaceto
in corporate. Heading out after
a heavy rain shower is the best
way to guarantee success, and
then you’ll need to turn your
usual compositional thinking
on its head.
Shooting puddles
Unlike larger bodies of
water, puddles are usually
still, free from ripples and
waves, offering up crystal
clear reflections to work
with. They can be found very
close to all manner of iconic
scenes and buildings. The key
to getting a good reflection
in a puddle is to shoot from
a low angle. Frame up too
high and the street surface at
the bottom of the puddle will
start to show in your shot.
The lower you can get to the
water’s surface, the clearer
the reflection will be.
With a low position
established, you can then
spend some time moving
around to bring the buildings
you want to photographinto
the reflection, framingup
as you would with a regular
shot. Setting up yourcamera
on a tripod will allowyou
to capture a long exposure
using a narrow aperturefor
maximum depth-of-fieldand
pl easing star bursts onany
st reetlights.
Above& rightTheinclusionof reflectionsreallygrabsyour
attention,muchmorethanthe samesceneshotwithout.
SKILLS GUIDE
SET UP FOR STRIKING REFLECTION SHOTS
n MOUNT ON A TRIPOD
Get your tripod as low as you canto
th e ground. Some tripods allow youto
in vert the centre column and attachyour
camera underneath. This allows youto
get as low as possible, but will givean
upside-down image that’ll need flipping
upright in Photoshop during the edit.
n FOCUS
Frame up your scene and use your
camera’s autofocus mode to set the
focusing distance. You will want tosetthe
focus on the buildings, rather thantheir
reflection in the water. Switch overto
manual focus to lock it in place. Thiswill
prevent the camera hunting for focus,and
it shifting accidentally between shots.
nSET THE
EXPOSURE
Switchto
aperture-
prioritymode
andsetan
apertureof f/2
Use thelowes
possibleISO setting,
usually100.Yourcamerawill thentake
careof findingthecorrectshutterspeed
fortheexposure.
nTAKETHESHOT
Setyourcamera’sself-timerwitha delay
of2sec.Thiswill preventanyvibrations
fr omcausingblurin yourshotas the
shutterbuttonis pushed.
REFLECTION SHOT
STANDARD SHOT
TIP
DON’TUSE
A POLARISER
Usinga polariserwill cut out
thereflectionsyou’retrying
tocapturein yourshot,
soleaveit in your
camerabag.
JFL PHOTOGRAPHY
NEIRFY
