reflections

[diverjohn]

How do I set this up?
I would like to place a young lady on the far side of a birdbath then photograph her image shimmering in the water.
To do this, would I first focus on her head then swing the camera down to the water's surface, or would I get better results by focusing on the water's surface only.
My instinct is that the reflection will appear sharpest when I focus for the source of the reflected image. What do you think? :wxwax

[XO-Studios]

How do I set this up?
I would like to place a young lady on the far side of a birdbath then photograph her image shimmering in the water.
To do this, would I first focus on her head then swing the camera down to the water's surface, or would I get better results by focusing on the water's surface only.
My instinct is that the reflection will appear sharpest when I focus for the source of the reflected image. What do you think? :wxwax

Wrong on both counts, the focal path goes from the reflective surface to the object, so neither focusing on the subject, nor focusing on the reflective surface will work.

Instead, focus on the subject as it is reflected in the bird bath, use manual focus if you have to.

XO,

[Shay Stephens]

The focus needed is based on the length from the camera to the subject via the path the light will travel. If you have a reflection, and you want the reflection to look sharp and in focus, the light travels a longer distance from subject to camera than if the subject were being photographed directly. So focusing on the reflection will yield the best results.



How do I set this up?
I would like to place a young lady on the far side of a birdbath then photograph her image shimmering in the water.
To do this, would I first focus on her head then swing the camera down to the water's surface, or would I get better results by focusing on the water's surface only.
My instinct is that the reflection will appear sharpest when I focus for the source of the reflected image. What do you think? :wxwax