Mirror image

[wintersphoto]

I am very fascinated with pictures taken near or on a water scenery with images reflected on the water. I just like to ask where exactly to focus my camera so that my object and its reflection do not appear blurry?
Thanks.

[tom]

Good question. Somewhere in the middle? What kind of camera are you using? Focus until both look sharp in the viewfinder. Focusing on the main subject should make the reflection sharp too.

[wintersphoto]

Hi Tom, I'm using a canon 35mm EOS. Another thing, how can I possibly minimize too much exposure that lead to blurry reflections of the scenery on the water during a very sunny day? You see I like to photograph this nice river scene in my hometown during a very sunny day.
Thanks.

[tom]

Hi Tom, I'm using a canon 35mm EOS. Another thing, how can I possibly minimize too much exposure that lead to blurry reflections of the scenery on the water during a very sunny day? You see I like to photograph this nice river scene in my hometown during a very sunny day.
Thanks.


I believe you would want a neutral density filter for that. There's full neutral density and split. In a split one, only half of the filter minimizes the light. I think a sunset would be a good situation to use a split. Otherwise, the sunset wouldn't be exposed right. Check out these links.

http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/filter/filter-ND.html
http://www.singh-ray.com/grndgrads.html

[tom]

split neutral density filters are also called "Graduated" Neutral Density Filters.

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/content/2003/aug/howto_graduated.html