Heello Manfred, Nice image. Just wondering why you cut off the shadows of the two spheres?
The reason is both practical and aesthetic. First of all the front edge of the black piece of Plexiglas I use as a base / reflector is just out of view on the bottom edge of the image.
The second reason is aesthetic / compositional. A perfectly mirrored reflection puts the "horizon line" in the centre of the frame and that generally leads to a weaker image. The bottom (reflected) part competes with the upper (non-reflected) part of the image and the overall image is compromised (in my opinion).
This is very much something we see a lot in landscapes as well. The novice photographers try for a perfect reflection where the upper part of the landscape is perfectly mirrored in the water. The more advanced photographer gets enough of the reflection to get a strong effect, but knows where to crop to get a strong composition.
I have shot some scenes where I do not use reflections or minimal reflections, but they tend to not have as high an impact, for example.
Last edited by Manfred M; 14th March 2023 at 12:30 PM.