Reflections are all around us, and can create a surreal sense of duality in photographs – says Jared Bramblett, who hosts this week’s photo challenge at The Daily Post. He’s used a mirror placed on a wooden walkway to wonderful effect – it looks as though the wood planks are reflected in a puddle of water.  I love that kind of playing with the way we see and I’ve been interested in reflections for years – they catch you off guard, often providing an amusing take on your surroundings. So here are a few photos of reflections I’ve taken:

The subject is ambiguous – it could be the man wearing sunglasses, the reflection of the flowering tree in his sunglasses, or the photographer.

The subject is more obvious here – sometimes leaving the screens up all winter provides a texture you can play with.

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The Everglades in Florida is full of epiphytes – those cool looking plants that perch on dead branches and gather moisture from the air.

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Muscular! That’s what I think this building in Manhattan is. The sky it reflects on this day – poetic.

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The Experience Music Project in Seattle is an ode to Hendrix, and the main building is extraordinary. It’s all wild curves and intense colors – so much so that on a bright day (there are plenty in Seattle in the summertime) the building throws its reflections onto the sidewalks, creating patterns that explode almost as wildly as…you know, Jimi.

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This sedate building on the grounds of Snug Harbor, a botanical garden in Staten Island, NY, allows afternoon sunlight to cast shadows and reflections simultaneously, creating a complex puzzle of inside and outside.

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More complexity – flowers, their shadows, their reflections, a frame without a picture in it – except there is a picture in it – the reflections and shadows of the sky and flowers, which take on a stained glass look.

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Taken on the fly with my phone camera, this is what I love to do as soon as weather permits – fling my foot out the car window and maybe take a picture into the side view mirror – there, I have a mirror photo in my reflection collection!

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More reflections can be found along with Jared’s photo at:

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/reflections/