Shutter Sisters

a twist on reality

By

Usually the reflection is more intriguing than the reality. Three figures gather under streetlights. I watch them walk upside down painting themselves onto my watery canvas. I wait for the wind to settle into a calm ripple and one figure walks off alone leaving two together. A story grows in my head, much more interesting than the real life conversation they’re having. This is my twist on reality.

I invert the image to make it how i envisioned it to be. Grasses fringe the sky and reflections turn to paint. A boring evening by the pond turns fantastical with imagination.

Today it’s a study of abstraction. Show me how you abstract, reflect, invert, and refract light. Wake me from this dream with your own twist on reality.

Comments

  3. Oh, that is well seen! Beautiful reflection, I love the creativity of inverting it to make it more like a painting. One of my favorite things in photography is exploring how reflections deepen and distort the light.

    Here is a reflection in water I might have to try inverting too, since what you did is so cool:
    http://www.kateyeview.com/2010/07/natures-paintings.html

    And a number of reflections in glass, which I find creates all sorts of amazing image-making opportunities:
    http://www.kateyeview.com/2010/08/exploring-with-camera-reflections-in.html

  8. I didn't even realise I loved taking photos of reflections until my boyfriend pointed out the running theme with my photos. I spent an hour in front of a stage mirror he'd made me last night taking snaps. I also love the reflections and mirror images water throws. I'm brand new to photography so any feedback and tips from the shutter sisters community would be welcome! These were taken in Hampstead Heath on a rare bright autumn day, November 2010

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/48001229@N02/5528594625/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/48001229@N02/5528585353/in/photostream/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/48001229@N02/5528580987/in/photostream/

  11. This post got me thinking! Abstractions are definitely outside of my comfort zone, requiring a shift in the way I see things. Good for the brain. I loved all the photos in this post, and I'm using the topic as inspiration for whatever I shoot next.

    Loved Jenifee's and Kristina's shop window reflections. Here's one of mine from Savannah:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/58066769@N05/5427774721/in/set-72157625918654594/

    And a refracted light abstraction:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/58066769@N05/5517332136/in/set-72157625905121392/

  20. I love you you have written about your photo as well as the photo itself. I could just see it playing out in my minds eye.

    Next to a Loch was a marsh which had some puddles. They were so still and reflected the sky in a way that looked like you could step through the puddle and into another world. It was so inviting! http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizzie-staley/5048147783/in/set-72157624915993319/

    Walking in the sky
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizzie-staley/5084173408/

  30. Lovely. Reflections offer another interpretation – I had not thought to capture them at night. Just lovely. I too, imagine stories for people-watching. It's a writing exercise my daughter and I use sometimes.

    Here are some of my favourite reflection photos – taken at Elliott Bay Marina in Seattle on Fourth of July, 2009.

    More-or-less abstract (in that, it may not obvious what it is, if you didn't know it was taken at a marina)
    http://scatterbeams.aminus3.com/portfolio/42.html
    http://scatterbeams.aminus3.com/portfolio/44.html
    http://scatterbeams.aminus3.com/portfolio/38.html

    These are more literal reflections, still I like the mood captured at the marina – so quiet that night.
    http://scatterbeams.aminus3.com/portfolio/40.html
    http://scatterbeams.aminus3.com/portfolio/41.html

    It is so wonderful to see all the different takes on this theme. That is much of what I appreciate and learn from here.