mirror

This Mirror Lens Filter Lets Models See Their Own Poses

Inexperienced models often struggle in front of the camera because they lack insight into their own appearance. While we all can look our best in front of a mirror, it's because we can see ourselves. This filter aims to bring that ease of posing to photography.

These Elegant Self-Portraits are a Masterclass in Minimalist Composition

In her ongoing series Reflections 2, photographer Ziqian Liu shows just how creative you can get when you limit your props and subject matter, and master composition instead. Throughout the series, Liu uses only herself, various plant life, the occasional fruit, and a round mirror to craft images that are at once symbolic and striking.

Timelapse Photographer Explains Why He Doesn’t Worry About Shutter Count

Every week, several people pop into photographer Matthew Vandeputte's DMs or drop into the comments on his YouTube to ask the same question: do I need to worry about my camera's shutter count if I start shooting timelapse. In this video, Vandeputte explains why you probably don't have anything to worry about.

This Forest Mirror Illusion is Bending People’s Minds

Stop-motion animator Kevin Parry has shared a clever little video illusion titled "Walk in the Woods" that has a lot of people scratching their heads. It's a loop that shows Parry repeatedly walking into a mirror in a forest and emerging out "the other side."

This Photographer Put a Giant Mirror In a Salt Flat

Australian photographer Murray Fredericks has spent years visiting and photographing the salt flats at Lake Eyre, the lowest point in Australia. For his latest project, titled Vanity, Fredericks brought a giant mirror and created gorgeous, abstract landscape photos at dawn, dusk, and night.

It Took 17 Square Meters of Mirror to Get This Shot

Photographer, digital artist, and Photoshop master Erik Johansson just released the behind the scenes video for his latest creation, and you may be surprised when you find out just how much work (not retouching, on-location work) goes into setting up a dreamscape like this.

Shooting Portraits with a Giant Mirror in the Corner of an Open Pit Mine

We've seen a number of photographers use mirrors in creative ways in recent years. Photographer Stefan Schlumpf recently decided to go big with the idea for a series of portraits.

For his "Silent Dialog II" project, Schlumpf set up a large mirror in outdoor locations -- including a giant open pit mine -- and used it to create a beautiful backdrop to frame his models.

This is How Canon Flips the Mirror in Its New DSLRs

If you shoot with a DSLR, you might take for granted that the mirror inside your camera swings out of the way to allow light to hit the sensor. There's actually quite a bit of precise engineering behind those seemingly simple flips.

With its new Canon 5DS and 5DS R, Canon introduced a new mechanical mirror mechanism that's designed to reduce mirror flip vibrations. The 43-second video above shows how the system works.

A Hummingbird Swarm Photo Shot with a Mirror and a Bird Feeder

This past weekend, New York-based photographer Brian Maffitt set up an angled mirror underneath his bird feeder and photographed hummingbirds for a few hours. Afterward, he combined a large number of the photos into this single, surreal composite photo showing ruby-throated hummingbirds swarming.

Sony Fires a Shot at DSLRs by Shattering Mirrors

Sony Australia has launched a new "Move to Mirrorless" advertising campaign that aims to lure people away from DSLRs and to the Alpha line of mirrorless cameras. To get its point across, Sony released the 60-second video above showing large mirrors shattering into little pieces in the desert in order to make way for "a new era in photography."

Dream Creatures: Reflected Images of Tree Bark Reveal the Faces Hiding in the Forest

Italian photographer Elido Turco spent four years between 2004 and 2008 exploring a mirrored photography world that remains invisible to most of us. By taking photographs of tree bark and then mirroring the photographs he captured, he discovered a whole society of "Dream Creatures" were watching him each time he would take a stroll through the mountain paths.

Talented Doodler Gets Creative with Mirror Selfies in This Awesome Little Photo Series

We usually don’t condone mirror selfies, but for Norwegian doodler Mirrorsme, we’ll make an exception. Using various mirrors as canvases for her work, the woman behind the pseudonym paints herself into a number of humorous and immersive situations. From Batman and Joker to Super Mario Bros., Mirrorsme has covered quite the variety of situations in her doodle adventures.

Trippy Mirrored Hyperlapse Videos Shot on Japanese Monorail Systems

Mirroring your time-lapse footage can yield a trippy, ethereal quality to an otherwise standard video. Riding on the Japanese monorail, for example, is nothing particularly special. Creating a hyperlapse of the experience, while cool, probably won't stand out.

A few users, however, have come up with some interesting takes on a monorail hyperlapse by mirroring the footage and taking you on a much stranger journey.

Where’s My Professional Mirrorless Camera?

Let’s take a moment to reflect on mirrors. Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, like the Olympus Pen E-P5 or Samsung  NX300, have enjoyed increasing popularity over the past few years, and it’s become clear that they are more than a passing fad.

This motley collection of high-tech cameras filled the gap that existed between bulky DSLRs and compact cameras, but manufacturers are now starting to expand their mirrorless lineups in hopes of attracting a wider cross-section of photographers, including professionals.

What 10FPS on a Nikon D4 Looks Like in 1920FPS Super Slow Motion

It's not uncommon for digital cameras to have burst modes as fast as 10 frames per second these days -- especially in mirrorless and pellicle mirror cameras -- but do you think you have a good understanding of just how fast 10FPS is? If not, check out this video by YouTube user krnabrnydziobak, who pointed a Phantom Miro eX2 at a Nikon D4 to see what 10FPS looks like when captured at a staggering 1920FPS.

Mind-Bending Reflection Portraits Shot Using a Wet Plate Camera

Last week we issued a challenge asking readers to shoot a creative mirror self-portrait using an alternative style of photography. Reader Agustin Barrutia took us up on that challenge, and created a pair of wet plate photographs that take the concept of "mirror self-portrait" to a new level (they're unlike anything we've seen before). Both photographs are straight-out-of-camera wet plate photos that weren't manipulated digitally. Barrutia simply used "mirrors" (one doesn't involve a mirror, per se) and "reflections" in clever ways.

The wet plate above is a self-portrait of Barrutia shooting the wet plate. That camera in the frame is the camera that captured the wet plate.

A Mirror Self-Portrait Captured in 1917

Snapping mirror self-portraits may have gotten a huge boost from the introduction of digital photography and smartphoneography, but it is by no means a new activity limited to our era. The photograph above was created back in 1917 -- nearly 100 years ago! It was snapped by an Australian flying ace named Thomas Baker when he was 20 years old.

Creative Landscape Photos Shot Using a Mirror and Off-Camera Lighting

Last week we shared a project by photographer Daniel Kukla, who photographed mirrors on easels in the desert in a way that makes them look like landscape paintings. Photographer Brendan Wixted did a similar project earlier this year for a photography class at his university, except he used off-camera lighting to illuminate the reflected landscapes.

Are the Mirrors Inside DSLR Cameras Ever-So-Slightly Green?

You know the infinitely long tunnel that appears when you look into two mirrors that are pointed at one another? Have you ever noticed that the tunnel becomes more and more green, the deeper you go?

YouTube personality Vsauce has a fascinating new video titled "What Color Is A Mirror?". In it, Mr. Sauce explains that this is due to the fact that there is no such thing as a perfect mirror (i.e. a mirror that perfectly reflects 100% of light). The fact is, a typical mirror best reflects light in the 510nm range, which we perceive as green light.

Trippy Mirror Photo Created Without the Help of Photoshop

You've probably seen photographs similar to the image above before, but this one is special in that it wasn't created digitally. Photographer Matthew Spiegelman shot it with a 4x5 camera and 180mm lens using a two-way mirror. The photo is titled Portal {Matthew Spiegelman in his studio with mirror, two way mirror, c-stands, clamp with suction cup, two geared tripod heads, three strobes, 4x5 camera, 180mm lens} [Variation 6]" 2010.

Trippy Photos Shot From Inside a Box Made of Mirrors

These photos might look like they were computer generated, but they're actually unmodified photographs. Ron Brinkmann took 6 mirror tiles and made a box with them with the help of some duct tape. He then placed a camera inside and triggered shots using the timer.

Ethereal Photographs of Salt Flats

Photographer Murray Fredericks took sixteen solo trips over eight years to the center of Lake Eyre in Australia, the largest lake in the country and one that forms salt flats every year when the water evaporates. These salt flats provide a perfectly flat, featureless landscape that extends to infinity in every direction, and allow for beautiful abstract photographs.

Introducing the Polaroid Picture Frame and Mirror

There hasn't been much activity in the PetaPixel Store since we launched the Leica Look-Alike skins in September 2010, but today that changes -- we're pleased to announce the new Polaroid Picture Frame and Mirror! It's an awesome picture frame for your desk that looks just like Polaroid 600 instant film, and when there isn't a photo inside it doubles as a mirror.