PHOTO PROJECTS

May 04, 2018 14 minutes

PROJECT 1

Surreal reflection Shoot a water world

Travel, landscape and abstract photographer Chloe Moore reveals how she took this image

TAKING a different perspective on a familiar place can help you think about it in new ways. I am lucky enough to live and work in Bath, one of the most photographed cities in the world, so it’s fun to try to find new ways of capturing its famous buildings.

There are so many beautiful places in Bath that I constantly have an opportunity to look for subjects that will work for this type of image. We are also not short on rain, so I don’t normally have to wait long for puddles to form for my reflection photography. I have a whole series of photographs of familiar Bath landmarks reflected in puddles and windows.

I love how this semi-abstract style adds a sense of mystery and intrigue – I like creating an image that makes people stop to study it, to try to work out how the photographer made it.

I walk the same route along the river every day to get to work. I often see great reflections in this spot, so I had this particular shot in mind for a while before taking it. I always use natural lighting for my images and for this shot I used my 50mm prime lens at f/2.8. Luckily this time I was able to simply stand and shoot at the right angle, but it’s not unusual for me to end up lying on the ground when I’m shooting puddles!

When I edit my images later on, I look at which areas I want to stand out and add Clarity, Contrast and – if it’s needed – more Saturation.

If you’d like to try your own reflection photography project, my advice is to have fun experimenting with shooting at different times of day and in various weather conditions, because these can both change an image dramatically.