Shoot The Upside Down!

Turn the world on its head! Jessica Billett shows you how to use muddy puddles to capture surreal reflections

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Don’t let a little rain stop you from getting out and about with your camera! Just after a heavy rain shower can be the perfect time to head out and capture an environmental portrait with a difference, by using the reflections found in puddles as the subject for a fun photo project. The mirror-like reflections in the water surface enable you to explore an alternative perspective, and flipping the image so that the reflection becomes the main point of focus gives a surreal quality to your shot.

With a little practice at trying out angles and perspectives, you’ll soon perfect your shots. Making sure you have your settings dialled in beforehand can speed up shooting too, while using semi-automatic exposure modes, such as aperture priority, means your camera does some of the work for you.

For our shoot we headed to a dense forest, so our scenes were mostly filled with greens and browns, which doesn’t make for the most colourful reflections; so we asked out model to wear bright and contrasting clothing to help break up the composition. You could also try this project in an urban setting – street lights reflected in puddles at night can work particularly well.