" Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." ― Albert Einstein

Consider all the various reflective surfaces in your everyday environment.

Tips For Taking Spectacular Reflection Photos

1. Find A Reflective Surface

Some of the most beautiful reflection photos are created using water. When you’re out in nature, look for reflections in large bodies of water such as lakes, ponds and rivers. You can capture wonderful sky reflections in these situations. The more interesting the sky, the more beautiful the reflection will be.

A tiny puddle can be incredibly effective if you shoot from the right angle. Try crouching down and shooting from a very low angle. If you have a macro lens for your iPhone, you could even try capturing reflections in tiny water droplets.

Mirrors, glass, windows, a car windshield, sunglasses, shiny table tops, shiny floors, marbles, bubbles, and the screen of a phone or tablet are all great surfaces that will work for reflection photography.

A large urban building with a glass facade will make an amazing reflective surface for capturing reflections of other buildings, people, trees, etc.

And don’t forget about metallic surfaces. Buildings with shiny metal exteriors, the roof of your car, a train track, or even a small spoon will all reflect objects in their shiny surfaces.

2. Include An Interesting Subject

Using a prop along with your subject, or as the main subject itself, helps to create more interesting reflection photos. I love to use umbrellas in my puddle reflection photos. Their shape and color creates a very strong visual impact.

3. Capture Reflected Colors & Skies

4. Emphasize Symmetry

Symmetrical compositions are incredibly striking and pleasing to the eye. There’s a sense of balance and harmony in a symmetrical image, and because reflections naturally create a mirror image within the scene, we can easily use them to create powerful symmetry.

5. Experiment With Your Viewpoint

The great thing about reflections is that you can create so many different versions of the image by changing the angle and viewpoint that you shoot from.

One option is to get really close to the reflective surface to eliminate all of the surroundings in the scene. That way you capture just the reflection of your subject. This can create an intriguing image, and the viewer might not realize it’s a reflection until they look closer.

6. Capture Texture In Reflections

Rather than always photographing still bodies of water, capturing ripples and waves on the water’s surface can help you capture interesting textures and patterns in your reflection photos.

7. Use Minimal Composition

A good way to make your subject stand out in a reflection photo is to include lots of empty negative space in your composition. Negative space helps to define and isolate your subject for maximum impact.

Minimalist compositions are very appealing because the eyes are drawn immediately to the subject. With nothing but empty space in the rest of your photo, there’s nothing to distract your attention from the subject.

Even if your subject is quite small within the frame, it will still have a big impact if you surround it with empty space.

Reflection photos that contain a lot of negative space tend to evoke feelings of peace and tranquility.

8. Create Abstract Reflections