reflections

The usual subjects are absent; flower, leaf, verdant hillside. Left now is the brown and gray of a southern winter. Water, surely; sky and stream remain. Light always present. I on the lookout for photo opportunities, and so it was, a reflection on a small pond got my attention. Not an unusual reflection, a normal landscape of grass and brush and water, but presented in a different way. Reflections became interesting.

A Study in Trees

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A stand of bare trees, trunks primarily. Not much to look at. Reflected in water, however, an entirely new image appears. It is not usual that our focus is on the reflection alone. Reflections are an integral part of all we see and certainly enhance a photo, but are mostly taken for granted, seen sub-consciously as it were. Here I am putting the reflection on stage.

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Reflection is altered by the surface. With varying breeze, ripples and wavelets appear, each creating myriads of reflecting surfaces scattering light. The subject becomes an impression

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Surprising depth and fluidity draws me in. A lone stick floats on the surface, all else deep within the pool. A multitude of delightful images unfold, varying with gust, wave, and current.

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Each departs a little more from reality, from realistic, tending to the abstract. But is it really a departure? Could it be an alternative presentation; the essence of the image free from distraction and visual bias.

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The World in a Raindrop

Rain, blessed. A feature of the Southern Winter. Drizzle, downpour, fog. Taking photographs during a rain is troublesome. I would labor to get a rain drop in focus, only to have it fall just as I was to trip the shutter. Chasing a drop as it sways in the wind while attempting to macro focus, likewise frustrating. But the world within, amazing! Reflections in miniature.

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A dense morning fog after rain. Each branch decorated in tiny jewels, reflecting light.

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Tip of a leaf. The world behind turned upside down.

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Beech leaves and branches lingering long past fall form this diminutive scene. As usual, upside down. The water drop makes a clear lens when still.

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Window Reflections

I like windows, the varying shapes, decor, how they frame the outside world, wondering about what might lie inside. Window reflections, often time not seen or at least, ignored. Indeed, difficult to see without interest and patience and careful positioning. Standing, viewing a pane of glass, slowly a reflected image appears. Vague at first, then taking shape, though not the shape you might expect.

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A stormy winter sky reflected in this old boathouse-cottage window. Nearby barn. Some interior objects unknown. It took awhile to see this, one would think it would jump right out, but no. And not all at once. More is revealed to those who wait.

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Each pane reflects differently, especially old glass, uneven. They split up a scene, juxtaposing limbs, varying degrees of abstraction.

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Looking through, looking back. Complex reflections. Our reflecting is like that too: looking ahead while thinking of the past. Sometimes the past is predominant, then the image shifts and the future is mostly seen. Complex reflections.

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Reflected Sky

Magical things happen looking at reflections. I have found that what is first seen reflected from the surface of a pond is only the beginning. As I stand quietly still, entering into the scene, absorbing the feeling of this place, more images appear. It is not that they were not there all along of course, but I have to let myself see them. The reflections seem to occupy different depths giving an unusual perspective; what is on the surface being different from that deeper within. This illusion is heightened when focusing the camera, having to focus deeper in the pond so to speak when capturing sequential reflections. It is common to behave such, judging surface impressions, neglecting what lies deeper within.

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I love the reflected sky. Billowing clouds and wispy dry winter weeds. You can almost feel them tossed in the wind. So delicate, so bold. Something happens to color in reflections. It is naturally richer, less contrast, with decreased luminance. Softer, tending to pastel. Objects are seen as broad swaths of color, disconnected, non-linear. The artists brush captures this better than the camera.

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A Study in Cattails

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I came upon a marsh filled with cattails reflected in water. The irregularity of line produced by reflection adds to the appeal of these everyday objects. Cattails become something more. Waves, undulations, broken lines with a cloud filled blue winter sky. Pleasing to the eye.

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Coastal Reflections

The coast changes less in winter, especially ocean beach. Sand, wave, light; all remain, colder but otherwise little altered by season.

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Rays of sunset reflected in wave at peak, soon to begin its retreat. I love the leading edge of waves as they make their way onto the beach, such crisp definition for a fluid medium.

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Sunrise. An early morning stroll, deserted landscape, eternal movement. Reflections on wet sand and foam.

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Lake View

Along the shore of lakes I think of larger landscape reflections. But they are not really there, at least not for me. Intimate scenes developing at shoreline attract me more. Symmetrical, delicate, sparse, oriental would be descriptive.

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