Babies, sunsets and sunrises, and reflections—all sure-fire photographic subjects capable of drawing interest even to otherwise unremarkable shots. Which is to say, they are dangerous and delicate.
Reflections, why are they interesting? There is, I suppose, the easy symmetry. Symmetry attracts our attention, perhaps for evolutionary reasons. Faces and bodies are symmetrical when see from the appropriate angle. But, while attractive, symmetry is also boring, because static and obvious.
Then there's the reality game. One in the pair is real, and one is but a reflection. If you're in the real presence, you can run your fingers over one and feel its contours, but the other has no contours, only a surface. And not even that if the reflecting medium is water.
Reflections can be elusive. Take this image (below). I know what's being reflected, and yet I had to think about the image, carefully, for a minute or so, before I could parse the central reflection.
What gave me pause were those bright verticals to the right of center. What could they be?
I did figure it out. And I will tell you. But if you've not figured it out, already I'm not sure how useful my telling will be. It's not that there's anything obscure or difficult. It's just that it helps to know the geometry in order to recognize it upside down. What's being reflected down the center is the 14th Street Viaduct in Jersey City. You see the roadway curving off to the right, and three massive supports column. All of them have graffiti at the base, but you can only see the base of the frontmost one. Those bright verticals are two more columns.
They're bright because the sunlight is reflecting from them. It's late afternoon and the sun is low in the sky. We're looking north, putting the sun to our left.
I did figure it out. And I will tell you. But if you've not figured it out, already I'm not sure how useful my telling will be. It's not that there's anything obscure or difficult. It's just that it helps to know the geometry in order to recognize it upside down. What's being reflected down the center is the 14th Street Viaduct in Jersey City. You see the roadway curving off to the right, and three massive supports column. All of them have graffiti at the base, but you can only see the base of the frontmost one. Those bright verticals are two more columns.
They're bright because the sunlight is reflecting from them. It's late afternoon and the sun is low in the sky. We're looking north, putting the sun to our left.
Here's the same scene, but from a different point of view. Notice the discarded dolls in the water, to the right of center:
Here they are again, but in a different configuration, photographed in a different day. Still, there's a reflection in the shot, only we don't have a direct view of the object being reflected. It's just a ghostly intrusion on this wake:
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