We have been blessed with a wonderful Indian Summer here in the Rockies –  the gloves, jackets and fleeces we packed have sat unused in the suitcase for the past 5 days.

It has been sunny and warm with temperatures in the 80’s with cloudless blue skies. Breezes have been subtle and infrequent. Jeff calls this “no weather”.

Believe it or not this can make for rather boring photos. Who wants a picture perfect iconic shot of the mountains?

The challenge in photography is often in making the shot – being creative and presenting something a little different to intrigue the eye or creating a story or mood with a scene in your photo. This is easier said than done. Bad weather often creates more opportunities for unique photos, but with no foul weather, we’ve had to search out other venues.

So what does one do with the picture perfect weather we have been having?

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Picture perfect?

Still weather with blue skies can offer excellent opportunities for capturing reflections in the water. If you have beautiful mountains in a scene, doesn’t it make sense that a reflection of that mountain would make the scene twice as beautiful?

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What is real and what is a the reflection?

Often times the reflection becomes more like a painting – an abstract of the original.

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A little ripple creates a Monet type abstract.

Not only have we been able to capture many spectacular reflections, but the water here is so clear that often the photo shows the logs or rocks on the lake bottom adding additional interest to the photo.

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Boat dock at Jasper Lake Lodge, Jasper, Alberta.

Growing up, puzzles were an activity for rainy vacation days. The more pieces the better. And yes, reflections always made the puzzle more difficult – blurring the line between reality and abstract, and I was always up for the challenge.  Perhaps, that is one of the reasons I enjoy capturing reflections – they harken back to enjoyable puzzle solving days of my youth.

Reflections – what do you see?