Paul Hill
Photography
Reflection Ponds
Reflection Ponds
On this page I take you through the construction of a small portable reflection pool and also the designs for a larger permanent reflection pool
Portable Reflection Pond
Portable Reflection Pond
For the portable pond you will need a growbag tray, a piece of exterior grade ply, slightly larger than the growbag tray and a some 150mm x 19mm timber.
- Ensure that you have the ply on a level surface; the exterior grade ply provides a solid base for the growbag tray.
- Cut the 150mm x 19mm plank so that you two shorter planks which are about 60% of the length of the pond. This creates a higher side to the pond which encourages the birds to drink at the one end of the pond (where you will be focusing for your photographs.
- You can "dress" the pond at the far end to hide the edges and create a natural setting. In this example I have used pebbles and a log.
- Fill the pond with water - site back and wait.
Permanent Pool
Permanent Pool
A permanent reflection pool offers many more opportunities for photography - the birds are habituated to it for drinking and bathing, plus it can be planted up or set-up and left to naturalise. At Pikelow we have two reflection ponds at the hides. Each are kept topped up with fresh water. Another option would be to channel rainwater from the hide roof to the ponds and have a butt to store water in as well.
The back of the reflection pool should be near enough to photograph the birds with your main working lens, not forgetting that you also want to get the reflection in the photo. Our pools our approximately 2,400mm x 1,200mm. The best conditions for photographing reflections are when there is no wind and blue sky.
Below are the design drawings for the pools at Pikelow, but the principals are the same as for the portable pool.
