Distorted reflections are a great way to create abstract photographs. Reflections on water surfaces are by far the most useful for this type of abstractions, and are the basis of most of these types of abstracts in my photography.
There are a few things one needs to take into account. First of all, one has to encounter the right conditions. The water surface should not be too calm (which leads to insufficient distortion of the primary image), nor too wild (which leads to insufficient reflection). Secondly, there should be something of interest to reflect, sometimes shapes, but mostly colours. This can range from buildings, to sunscreens, to parked cars, to graffiti, and so on. Thirdly, unlike any other type of abstract photography, one will be dealing with an ever changing subject. The movement of the water, whether it is caused by the wind or ducks swimming by, makes for a different scene every single moment. It is crucial to take a series of shots of a promising situation, to be able to pick the best one at home behind the computer. In terms of final processing, it pays of to be bold in pushing the natural colours, and to try different orientations (flipping upside down is an obvious one, but also 90 degrees rotations can be quite effective).
Anyway, here are some of my favourites in this genre.
Another shot from the aforementioned Cool-Art project, but a very different result.
Water reflections gone wild (2009)
One
of my favourite and most popular abstracts of the water reflection
type. This was shot in Almere, where paintings were exhibited above a
small body of water. As someone commented: it looks like someone threw a
bunch of paint onto the water!
VanGoghesque (2010)
I
took this water reflection abstract in Amsterdam near the place where I
worked at the time/ By rotating the reflection shot 90 degrees, I
created a pattern that reminded me of van Gogh's paintings.
Ice on fire (2011)
Frozen
water makes an interesting variation on the usual water reflections.
Most likely this is the Weerwater, the artificial Almere lake near where
we lived at the time.
Basel water colours (2011)
A
short day trip from the South of Germany to Switzerland and back
yielded this water reflection abstract. Cool how there are two strong
diagonals in this composition, even if they are not that obvious.
Splash (2011)
Given
the year, this water reflection shot was probably taken in Almere. I
applied an Orton-like effect with the on-line Picnik programme.
Another reflected abstract (2012)
The
Burgel (the canal running through the centre of Kampen) proved to be a
sheer endless source of these - I think this is one of the very best.
October water reflections (2012)
One
of many water reflection abstracts shot at the Kampen canal the Burgel.
This is the best one (to my taste) and the most successful one with
scores of faves - the striking reflections on the diagonal are caused by
balconies by the way.
Traffic Jam (2013)
Most
of my Kampen water reflection abstracts are taken at the Burgel, the
canal that runs through the city. Here we have one in the river IJssel,
with intentional camera movement. It's actually traffic lights on the
opposite banks.
Shark (2017)
More
water reflections, in this case in the IJssel river in our home town
Kampen. I went for a diagonal composition, and the shark figure I see in
the final result was a nice bonus.
Glass Reflections (2018)
My
favourite of a series of shots that I took of the way the gardens of
the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterloo reflected in the polished glass
surface of an art piece inside the museum. I like this painterly
impression.
Surreal Stairs (2018)
A
dazzling Escheresque image that I encountered in the Aegean shopping
mall in Shanghai, a combination of reflections and refractions on a
decoration piece.
Land of Confusion (2019)
This
is an unusual type of "abstraction by reflection". It is part of my
"Cool Art" series: images generated by the refection of my wife's
colourful paintings in a slightly crumbled aluminium coolbag.
Sedimentation (2019)
Another shot from the aforementioned Cool-Art project, but a very different result.
Copyright statement: all images copyright Hennie Schaper. Contact me if you like to use them.