Boaz Wildlife Photography*: flower

Friday, May 24, 2019

Reflections

There are good reflections

Lavender and yellow flowers are reflected in water.

Columbus Zoo trumpeter swan pond. Coulda done better with the focus.

and bad reflections.

The photographer's arms and hands are superimposed on the manatee, thanks to reflection from the manatee tank's glass.

Florida manatee (Columbus Zoo, Apr. 2019). I've learned to wear a dark shirt when I expect to be taking pictures through glass. Maybe I should wear long sleeves and gloves, too.

There are reflections of lights.

An elephant's mouth is open, but reflections of ceiling lights mar the picture.

Asian elephant (Columbus Zoo, Aug. 2018). This could have been a nice shot.

I bought a circular polarizing filter, which purports to eliminate reflections, for my lenses, but it has limits. For one thing, it significantly reduces the amount of light that enters. When ambient light is low, such as when I'm in the elephant barn, I can hardly see anything through the viewfinder.

There are horrible reflections.

A child in a pink shirt appears on a gorilla's cheek, along with more reflections.

western lowland gorilla (Columbus Zoo, June 2018)

A viewing area that's darker then the exhibit limits reflections, but sometimes there are lighted signs behind the photographer.

The fish's tail is overlaid with blurry text from a lighted sign.

sohal surgeonfish (Columbus Zoo, Jan. 2019)

A photo for artistic effect? No, I took the picture for the heck of it. It looks like a double exposure, but it's not. The sloth bear is inside the glass and the rock superimposed on the bear is a reflection of what's outside the glass.

The bear's head and torso show cracks in rock.

sloth bear (Columbus Zoo, Aug. 2018)

I don't take the picture when I'm aware of a bad reflection, and I like to think I've become more aware over time. Still, I'm not always aware, as the manatee photo shows.

Here are a couple more good reflections.