Mirror, Mirror!

I have noticed something about the pictures that I take of things on the water.  The reflection sometimes is prettier than the object itself!  Then at other times, the reflection makes for a very strange picture.  Take for instance, the last pictures that I took of the alligator that comes to visit occasionally.  This old Bayou Gator has never caused a problem other than stealing a few baits from my crab pots so I do not mind it hanging around the pier.  Its presence gives me great photographic opportunities which in turn gives my favorite wildlife artist, Natalie Barker, more reference pictures.  She does an extremely good job of capturing the details of the gators.  Just today, I was looking at some of the photos of the gator when I realized that the reflections were exceptional!  The pictures were taken early one morning before the day's winds roughed up the waters.  The photograph could be turned completely upside down without changing much of anything.  Now that was some slick water!

I played with the photographs for a while turning them this way and that.  It struck me as being odd that even though the mirrored image was perfect, the gator looked a bit odd.  Then I turned the picture on its side..what?  The gator now took on the appearance of a really strange looking critter!  The gator's head when turned sideways resembled (in my imagination) a seahorse's head!  Ok, so that was stretching it a bit but like I said, I do have a vivid imagination whirling around in that head of mine!  Still, those pictures with reflections were far more interesting than those without them.

Sometimes a show of reflection or line symmetry can double the beauty in a photograph.  I am no professional photography by far but rather someone who is fascinated by the beauty that surrounds me here on the Bayou.  I will be on the lookout for more calm days just to experiment with reflections on the water.  To bad Ole Gator will be snoozing for the winter soon. (No, they do not actually hibernate.  They lower their metabolism and get lazy..ha!)  Anyway, my alligator photographs will most likely have to wait until next spring but I can experiment on the herons in the meantime!  Those and the loons are always willing participants!