Fishing Reflection by Tisha Clinkenbeard
Captured during a family reunion at Roaring River, Missouri, this image highlights the serene beauty of the river's clear, cool waters. The photographer skillfully utilized the perfect angle of the sun to frame her nephew fishing along the bank, focusing on the pristine surface reflections. By capturing the subject in the water, she created a striking visual illusion that makes the scene appear inverted. This photograph is award-worthy for its clever perspective and the tranquil, painterly quality of the reflection, which transforms a simple family moment into a captivating artistic study of light and symmetry.
Darrell Sandefur
As an amateur photographer Darrell Sandefur is most comfortable taking pictures of “things” – architecture, cityscapes, close-up/macro, landscape, and nature photography. He prefers to compose his pictures well when taking them with his Nikon D5000 and rely less on post processing with applications. Darrell almost always brings his camera with him on frequent business travel so he can seize every opportunity to improve his skills. He has not had a photo shoot where he did not learn something. The lenses Darrell mostly uses are his standard issue Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR AF-S, Nikon DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6G AF-S, or Tamron SP 10-24mm 1:3.5-4.5 wide angle. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="145"] Darrell Sandefur[/caption] Camera Gear: Nikon D5000 Lenses: Tamron SP 10-24mm 1:3.5-4.5G Current Location: West Chester, OH, USA Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/da
Resonance Score Breakdown
Transparency Note: The resonance score (11.0/20) is calculated based on social engagement metrics collected before the award announcement.
Expert Photography Reviews · 6
The Surface of Memory
Water is a mirror that does not lie, though it often forgets. We stand at the edge, looking down, expecting to find ourselves. Instead, we find a version of the world that is softer, more fluid, and entirely beyond our reach.
Read the reflection →The Weight of Still Water
The smell of wet river stones always brings me back to the feeling of cold mud between my toes. It is a sharp, metallic scent, like iron filings mixed with crushed mint.
Read the reflection →Reviews & Comments
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The river’s surface is a mirror waiting for the right breath. She stood there, watching the water settle until the boy and his reflection became one singular, inverted grace. It’s a quiet miracle of symmetry. I’ve spent hours by such banks, and I can almost feel the cool dampness rising against her skin. It’s rare to find a moment where the light stops rushing and simply listens to the land. I find myself wanting to step inside.
At f/3.5, the Nikon P90’s small sensor struggles with the diffraction limit, yet here, the water’s surface acts as a perfect beam splitter. The focal plane dances between the ripples and the inverted silhouette, creating a surreal symmetry that’s physically disorienting. I’m genuinely moved by how the chromatic aberration at the edges softens the light into a painterly haze. It’s a rare moment where the optics don’t just record reality; they elegantly dissolve it.
The water’s surface doesn’t just reflect; it demands a reckoning with the void. By inverting the boy, Clinkenbeard forces us to confront the instability of our own existence. I’ve spent hours staring at these ripples, feeling a strange, cold vertigo. It’s not a simple family memory, but a haunting duality. When the light hits the river, it reveals that we are merely ghosts haunting our own shadows. It’s a beautiful, unsettling act of erasure.
We look at this boy by the Roaring River and we aren’t just seeing a reflection; we’re seeing a quiet conversation between a child and the water. He’s waiting, listening to the current before the line even tightens. It’s a gentle, inverted world where the surface holds his patience. I find myself holding my breath, too. It’s a photograph that asks to be returned to, reminding us that the best stories start in the silence.
1/104sec at f/3.5, 5.9mm focal length. The Nikon P90’s small sensor struggles here; the noise floor is visible in the shadows. Using f/3.5 at such a wide focal length creates a deep focus that renders the reflection and the bank with equal, flat intensity. It’s technically lazy, yet the symmetry is undeniably sharp. I’ve spent years hating these bridge cameras, but I’ll admit, the geometry here actually works. It’s a clean, cold calculation.
Most entries in this category rely on heavy post-processing to force a painterly effect, but Tisha’s work earns its place through pure observation. By aligning the boy’s silhouette with his reflection, she’s turned a mundane riverbank into a Rorschach test of light. It’s rare to see such clean symmetry without it feeling clinical. I’ll admit, the stillness here actually made me catch my breath. In thirty years, this quiet, inverted geometry will still feel perfectly balanced.