When photographing wildlife on water, you’ll often have the opportunity to take reflection shots (think about that for a second…). To get this image I arrived at the San Carlos Bay–Bunchee Beach Preserve at Fort Meyers, Florida early morning to avoid a sun too high in the sky which could have caused glare. I was fortunate in that not only did I get a nice reflection of the preening egret, but also ripples in the water caused by the tide moving at the egret’s feet. Another key to great reflection shots is avoiding the wind. Ideally, you want the wind to be as low as possible. Keep in mind that winds on a large open body of water will kick up more water disturbance than those in a sheltered area. For example, I’ve got great reflection shots at the edge of a slough next to cattails, yet less than 20 feet from the still sheltered water the wind was creating ripples in the open water.
