How to focus for reflections

A great reflection shot makes you stop and look twice. Whether it's a runner suspended in a shop window or a skateboarder seen in a puddle, everyday scenes feel more graphic and surprising. But when you try it, you realise the trick isn't just timing the moment, it's getting the focus right.

Here, action photographer and Canon Ambassador Lorenz Holder shares how he focuses to capture fast-moving action in a reflective surface, whether it's a puddle, a window, or a mirror.

If you focus on the real subject and then point your lens at the window or puddle where it's reflected, you’ve set focus for the wrong distance. But if you focus on the puddle, you've only made the water surface sharp. The reflected person will still be out of focus.

Lorenz’s solution is to stop trying to outsmart the geometry and use subject tracking. If your autofocus system can recognise the person in the reflection, it can lock on to them instead of grabbing the puddle, the pavement, or whatever high-contrast edge happens to be nearby.

When Lorenz wants the reflected subject sharp, he uses Servo AF with subject tracking. Here's how he does it:

1. Compose first so the reflective area sits where you want it in frame.
2. Sta trtracking in Servo AF mode as the subject enters the reflection.
3. Let the autofocus lock on to the reflected subject, not the puddle/glass itself.
4. Take a burst of shots in Continuous shooting mode to track the action.

“If the camera can see the person that’s reflected, Canon’s AF system will jump onto them,” Lorenz says. On his Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Dual Pixel Intelligent AF is designed to keep tracking even when the subject is briefly obscured – and in certain sports on pro cameras that have this feature, Action Priority can shift the AF area to follow the key subject even in a reflection.

Sometimes, however, the goal isn’t clinical sharpness, but rather mood.

“If I want a softer, dreamier frame, I’ll pre-focus on the puddle,” Lorenz explains. He’ll switch to manual focus (MF) and lock focus on the reflective surface (or very close to it). This can result in a more painterly look, with the reflected person appearing slightly abstract. It’s a creative choice, and it’s worth making deliberately rather than ending up there by accident.

Reflections are basically a geometry problem. A tiny change in where you’re standing can completely change what the surface reflects, and what your AF system thinks it should lock on to.

One step left might clean up the reflection and reveal a clear subject. One step right might introduce a bright highlight, a busy background through the glass, or a strong edge that the AF grabs instead.

So if focus keeps missing, Lorenz suggests you physically move first. Go left or right. Raise or lower the camera. Doing so can help simplify the scene inside the reflection, remove distractions that steal focus, and bring the reflected subject into a clearer plane.

• Water (puddles, lakes, wet roads): fight ripples with height

The biggest issue focusing on water is the surface itself: wind, footsteps, and tiny vibrations can all create ripples that break the reflection. Lorenz’s easiest fix in these situations is to simply get lower.

“The lower you shoot, even just 1 or 2cm, the smaller the patch of water you need for a clean reflection,” he says. “With a smaller area, it’s easier to find a still area. If it’s breezy, you can even use your backpack as a little windbreak.”

• Glass: it’s reflective… until it isn't

Glass is tricky because it can flip between reflection and transparency depending on the angle and light. If it’s strongly reflective (like shop fronts at night), your camera may be able to track a face or body in the reflection surprisingly well.

But if the background behind the glass is bright or busy, you can end up with two scenes competing and your AF will jump to whatever looks most “real”. In that situation, if you don’t have control over the light, simplifying your angle is often the fastest fix.

• Mirrors (including handheld mirrors): control the frame

Mirrors give you the cleanest reflection and the most control.

Lorenz likes using physical mirrors because you can choose exactly how much mirror you want in the frame, and you can place it so the reflection becomes a deliberate design element.

Reflections can look great in soft light, but Lorenz says they really pop when the light is directional.

“If I want strong graphic contrast, I’ll shoot in harsh midday light,” he explains. “If I want it gentler, I’ll go in the morning or evening when the light is softer.”

Either way, reflections are a highlight-and-shadow trap. This is why Lorenz always uses manual exposure to have total control.

Shooting RAW also gives you headroom to pull detail back when you process the image. Lorenz says the EOS R5 Mark II’s dynamic range enables him to bring the highlights down and bring back the darker areas.

Once you understand the focusing challenge – the "bounce" distance, the surface behaviour, and when to trust tracking – shooting reflections becomes a repeatable technique you can reach for whenever you want an action photo that feels unexpected and exciting.

Written by Jeff Meyer