This week, I went overboard in featuring more photos for a challenge-response than I’ve done recently. You see, dear reader, Anne chose a subject that reflected my preference for reflections (sorry about that sort of pun). She writes in her challenge post, “Now it’s time for you to experiment with reflections of any kind. I’m looking forward to seeing how you and your camera reflect on various subjects.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

I’ve included a baker’s dozen photos to share, most of which focus on the lakes or rivers that are reflective subjects, many of which I’ve shared before in other contexts. The opening photo features the Red River at Lindenwood Park in Fargo, North Dakota. I chose the black-and-white version I created in Silver Efex 2 mainly because I like how the sky is reflected in the calm waters.

Coldwater Lake was created on May 18, 1980, as a direct result of the catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens. The eruption triggered a massive landslide that dammed Coldwater Creek with volcanic debris, forming the lake almost overnight. On the day of our visit, the lake was a nearly perfect mirror.

On our visit to Grand Teton National Park in 2020, our view was obstructed by haze from wildfires in the north. For this challenge, I reworked the image with more modern processing from Adobe Lightroom and Luminar Neo. Jackson Lake was calm and reflective, but the mountains were shaded in haze. I brought out the detail in the Teton Range as best as I could, but the sky was a gray-blue blob, so I used Luminar Neo’s sky replacement to improve the sky and add some clouds. Luminar Neo’s Sky Replacement tool did a great job of reflecting the clouds in the new sky over the lake. This view features Mount Moran, which rises to an elevation of 12,610 feet (3,840 m). It dominates the northern section of the Teton Range, towering about 6,000 feet (1828 m) above Jackson Lake.

The Reflecting Pool at the Oklahoma City Memorial occupies what was once NW Fifth Street, directly in front of where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building stood before the 1995 bombing. Its shallow water is designed to offer a peaceful space for contemplation. The memorial is one of the most moving museums and grounds that I have ever seen.

The cruise on the River Walk is beautiful and educational, making it well worth the time and affordable enough for me to take twice, once during the day and once at dusk. One of my favorite images from the cruise was this view of the colorful umbrellas and their reflection in the water. You’re looking at the iconic Casa Rio, the very first restaurant to open along the San Antonio River Walk back in 1946. The building it’s housed in is historic, dating from the 1700s. I reworked this photo with Photoshop Elements some years ago for a photo challenge called “Impressionistic.”

That is enough reflective lakes and rivers for this challenge. Now it’s time to look at some other reflective surfaces. This photo has been shared in several challenges as one of my favorite night shots. During a brief but intense downpour, we ducked into the vestibule of a bar, and I turned around to see the beautiful lights reflecting off the wet pavement.

The next day, we did a golf cart city tour, and I spotted window washers working high on the office building. What struck me as interesting about this photo, though, is that the reflective glass created the illusion that the building is semi-transparent, allowing us to see the sky behind it through the glass rather than the reflection of the sky behind me.

At a classic car show, I saw this beautiful restomod (a restored classic modified with currently available technology). All around the floor of the car, mirrors were placed so that we could see that the underbody was just as nicely finished as the views we usually see.

At the Lighthouse Museum in St. Augustine, Florida, a convex mirror was placed low on a wall, facing the lighthouse. Its purpose is to allow people to take a selfie with the lighthouse in the background. That’s a great idea.

At the Museum of Illusions in Scottsdale, Arizona, one of the displays features a two-way kaleidoscope. I was standing on one side of the long tube and took a photo of my wife and my sister. In turn, they were taking a picture of me from their side of the tube.

In 2019, we embarked on a Panama Canal cruise aboard the Norwegian Star from Long Beach, California. While we awaited departure, I was wandering around on the upper decks looking for photo opportunities. I noticed the reflective glass on the windows of the ship’s bridge. Each pane gave a different view of the Long Beach Harbor area.

In 2023, we took a “behind the scenes” tour of the Norwegian Bliss, one of my favorite cruise ships. As we transitioned from one area of the ship to another, we walked through a corridor that was reserved for crew members. I was struck by the highly polished floor when I looked at the photo and decided it belongs here with the other reflective images.

For my last photo, a bit of humor from a recent family visit. Lynn was visiting with other family members in the kitchen, so I walked out the glass patio door and sat on a chair just outside the kitchen. After visiting for a few minutes with my nephew, Tim, and others, I looked through the window into the kitchen to see my wife in Tim’s arms. I did a double-take before I captured the photo as evidence. >grin< He couldn’t be in two places at once. After all, I was speaking to him face-to-face on the patio.

It was fascinating to me that my view of Lynn through the glass blended so well with the reflection of my nephew. She was leaning back in her chair in conversation with someone else in the kitchen, and Tim’s arms were placed at the proper angle to appear as if they were holding her.

That’s plenty for this challenge, one of the longest responses I’ve made in quite a while. I guess it’s because I have so many photos to “reflect” upon. > Sorry < The entire gallery can be viewed with metadata on my Flickr site here.

Last week, Beth joined the team with her first challenge, “Stormy.” Coincidentally, we had a stormy week culminating with multiple tornadoes and 100 mph winds in North Dakota. Lynn and I were safe in our designated shelter for a time while the storm passed through Fargo, but there were three fatalities and property damage in rural North Dakota.

On a much happier note, Ann-Christine will host next week’s challenge. Be sure to follow her here so you don’t miss her challenge, which will be published at noon Eastern Time on Saturday.

John Steiner