Reflected Pond Scene

Provided by: Christine Churchill
Summary authors & editors: Christine Churchill, Jim Foster 

The photo above shows what appears to be a rather ordinary scene of the California countryside and a waxing, gibbous Moon. However, this is a reflected image -- reflected from the still waters of a farm pond. Typically, a reflected scene in calm water looks very much like the original, just upside down. It's also somewhat darker, and dimmer near the observer, since water doesn't reflect all of the incoming light. What we see usually comes from the volume of the water itself or from light reflected from the surface at the bottom of the water. Quite often, what we see is due to several contributions at once. Photo taken on November 7, 2007 at the Glen Ellen Horse Rescue Farm in northern California.

Photo details: Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 camera, 28 mm lens, 1/40, f7.1, ISO 100.