Street Photo - Inversion

Inversion

Water reflections are pretty common in street photography and to take really good and interesting shots is a great challenge for most street photographers. It's all boiled down to the photographer's perspective, composition, and patience for the right subject to appear at the right time at the right spot. In addition, creativity plays an important part too. Instead of showing the upright image, inverting the photo can present a whole new perception with a little surrealism.

Honestly, it was my first time taking such water reflections in my street photography, and wouldn't say it's my best shot. But I believe such a photo should be added to every street photographer's portfolio. Wouldn't you agree?

OK here's how this shot was made. I was standing outside a popular shopping mall in Little India and there was a large puddle of water which was a result of heavy downpour in the late morning. I was looking out and observing people in that busy area when I noticed the water reflections of people walking past the water puddle. The next moment, there was this Indian man walking near the water puddle, talking on his cell phone. He had been walking back and forth as I quietly observed his movements. Here are some of the shots I made but they just don't work for me, mainly because of the perspective angle I adapted.

Then these 2 young boys came along, and I quickly changed my vantage spot slightly to my left, and here's the original shot I made. Reflections were the concern in pursuing to capture the photograph I wanted.

So with a drastic enlargement to the original image, I inverted it and I'm satisfied with the result as shown on top.

Photo info:

Nikon D70s on Tamron 17-35mm | ISO 400 1/250 sec f/10.0 E.V. -0.3 Spot metering AWB | Post-processed in Photoshop.