WHY THIS
SHOT WORKS
FIGUREFILLSFRAME
Yoursubjectshould fill
th e frame in both the
reflection and the street
itself. Avoid leaving large
areas of empty space, as
this means viewers’ eyes
may be unnecessarily
distracted from the
subject itself. For the
best results, wait until
your subject is close to
the dividing line – but not
across it – before taking
your shot.CENTRALCOMPOSITION
Placethedividingline
between your reflective
surface and the street
scene you want to
capture directly in the
middle of your photo.
This will cause your
viewer to question which
side of the image is real,
and which is reflection.
Avoid using the rule-
of-thirds, or any other
off-balance composition
when framing.LIMBSINTACT
Whilewe wantthe
su bject of your image
to fill the frame, this
doesn’t mean that any
limbs should be cut
off by the edge of the
photo. Aim to leave a
reasonable amount of
space around the edges
of your frame – if you’re
unsure how much
space to leave exactly,
study our example
images for ideas.By capturing a composition where
the subject is close to the dividing
line between the reflection and
reality, where the subject fills the
frame without any limbs being cut
off, and where the dividing line is
central in the image, we’ve been
able to shoot a street image that
fulfils the brief correctly. The
image is made more successful
because we kept an eye on the
lighting in our environment. If the
inside of our chosen shop window
was too bright, then we wouldn’t
have been able to capture this
reflection. The less light that
directly hits the window, and the
more light that directly hits your
subject, the better your reflection
wi ll be. While this may be a tricky
equation to balance, it’s worth
keeping in mind when you capture
your shot.Above & left Use your
camera’s Live View mode
to compose your shot.PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 93
TIP
SHOOTA
SI NGLESUBJECT
Don’tshootmultiplesubjects,
butinsteadwaitfortheperfect
personto strollintoyour
frame.Toomanysubjects
willcomplicateyour
shot.