Upon Reflection...

This past weekend, while doing my usual roughly 5 mile walk along Alameda Creek, the photographic conditions turned out to be excellent for reflection photos. These are one of my favorite types of photos to take, when conditions permit.

Recently, Alameda County Water District (ACWD) has constructed a fish ladder, just west of the Mission Ave. Bridge, complete with rubber weir, which they have inflated this winter. Due to the large amount of rain we received in the Bay Area, there is plenty of water to create a small alke behind the weir. This weekend, while I was walking, it was also quite calm; resulting in perfect conditions for reflections in the water.

Alameda Creek, with the Fish Ladder/Weir in the Distance

Amtrak Train Crossing Alameda Creek

Mission Ave. Bridge with the East Bay Hills, Fremont, CA

I really like all three of these photos; the effect really appeals to my eye. It got me thinking about some other reflection photos I've taken in the past few years, and the conditions necessary for a good reflection shot.

A Dramatic Landscape

I love the polar regions; there is something about the ice and the geology that keeps me returning year after year. Fjords are great places for reflection shots, because the water usually calmer than in open water.

While on a Quark Expeditions cruise to Western Greenland in Sept. 2018, we sailed into Kangerdlugssuag Fjord and stopped near the terminus of the fjord. Late summer ice from calving glaciers dotted the calm water in the late afternoon sun. Here the ice helps ground the reflections and provides a sense of place.

In November 2014, I traveled to Antarctica and on our last full day, we spent an afternoon kayaking near Pleneau Island, a location famous for its iceberg graveyard. The weather conditions were perfect, as the calm waters attest.

Can you call a photo taken at 10PM in an area with 24 hour daylight an evening photo? This photo was taken inside the Bellsund, in Svalbard, on July 1, 2015. Once again, the calm waters of a fjord made this shot possible.

Another advantage of fjords is that I've often been kayaking in them, which gets me very close to the water, making reflection shots easier, as the viewing angle is shallower.

This shot, also taken near Pleneau Island in Antarctica, was taken while in a kayak, viewing another kayak gliding through the water. The kayakers and kayak are only slightly distorted in this shot.

This photo was taken in the late afternoon inside South Cape Fjord in Ellesmere Island, high in the Canadian Arctic, in mid-Sept., 2018. The lone kayaker in the photo is in front of a large glacial front. The human element provides a sense of scale to the landscape.

Combining sunrises or sunsets with my fondness for reflections is very special, when it happens.

This sunset along Elbow Beach in Bermuda was taken on December 29, 2018. The sun is reflected in the wet sand and helps highlight the surf line.

This was a more experimental photo I took the day before during the sunset on Elbow Beach; I was intrigued that the clouds actually looked better in the reflection in the wet sand, than just photographing them directly, so I dropped to my knees and focused on the sand instead of the sky. I managed to take this photo and not get my clothes wet!

Wildlife

Sometimes, a reflection can add visual interest to a photo of wildlife.

These elephants had just left the Linyanti River in northern Botswana, where they had been drinking and bathing. The calm waters don't hint at the presence of crocodiles in the water, however. (November 2016)

Catching a bird in flight can be tough on its own, but also getting its reflection in the water is something special. This shot was taken along Alameda Creek, close to my home, which goes to prove that you don't have to be somewhere exotic to find nature. I used a 500mm telephoto at 1/1250s for this shot.

Another shot from Alameda Creek, this time of a pelican cruising just above the water.

At the end of March, 2018, I was hiking in Dry Creek Regional Park, when I came across this pair of wood ducks in a stock pond. It is still the only time I've seen a wood duck!

Another Alameda Creek photo; here I think that the reflections turn a nice photo into a spectacular photo. The snowy egret on the right was just landing and it spooked the snowy egret on the left.

This shot was taken while at sea off the coast of western Greenland in Sept. 2018. Here the slight swells add fluidity to the reflections and the northern fulmar is reflected at least twice in this shot.

No water lilies, but the dappled fall colors reflected in Coyote Creek in San Jose bring to mind a painting by Monet. A red shouldered hawk is perched on a log along the creek; not a usual location to spot a raptor, but fortunately for me, this is where the hawk happened to be when I came along.

I do love the challenge of getting a good reflection shot and stretching the concept, as the Elbow Beach and these last two photos of wildlife. You can be sure that when I take another good one, it will find its way onto this website.