The wonder of reflection shots

At home or at a park, doubled images from a pool of water are worth reflecting upon

Build your own garden reflection pool

diy Stores sell ready-made small ponds. Make sure you place it in a spot that catches daylight or flash reflections. Fill it with pebbles to create shallow areas for birds to drink from. Hide seeds around its edges, under pebbles and plants, and wait for wildlife.

discover your local reserves

check your local wildlife trust for reserves with water, and look for National Trust sites that allow photography. See if you can get permission to take pics from local landowners or friendly farmers. Many sites have hides, which means you can spend time studying behaviour and working out shots against shorelines or lake edges. Facebook groups can provide valuable info for where and when wildlife might be around.

it’s all about the light – use weather forecasts

i cannot live without my BBC local weather app, and plan a lot of my work around it. Ideal light is side on or shining from behind if you want to catch reflections in the water. The forecast will also tell you about wind, which is the creator of ripples and the enemy of perfect reflections.

Framing reflection shots in portrait

for reflection shots, you are sometimes capturing above and below the subject, and the natural shape for that is portrait. If shooting on a gimbal or tripod, many bigger lenses can rotate easily on their tripod bracket. Make sure you move your focus point so that you keep the head in focus.

anticipating take off, capturing the moment

long hours in the field are invaluable for studying bird behaviour. Some birds, such as buzzards or herons, defecate before takeoff, a good warning to be ready. Birds often appear uneasy or twitch, and it’s reading these signs before hitting that fast frame rate and keeping the finger down that means you might get the shot. You need to shoot fast and wide open, which will keep the bird in focus, the background nicely blurred and the moment caught, though there is room for a slower shutter speed to show motion in the wings.

11 Field mouse Feeding It took several days to get this image with all of the mouse, and its very long tail, in shot

12 OTTER in THE RIVER SEVERN Persistence finally paid off at this spot in Bridgnorth

14 lapwing at VENUS Pool Perfect light and framing brought this male lapwing to life

13 swan at dusk, Walcot Hall A 100-400mm lens was used for this atmospheric swan portrait

15 HERON TAKEOFF, Walcot Hall Anticipating takeoff helped capture the bird and reflection