One simple technique to approach photography is to look through the reflections and different surfaces all around you. Maybe this practice is good if you are a beginner or feel more shy and introverted. I personally use reflective surfaces on the street as a way for me to observe life differently each day!
Photography is magic
When you put your camera up to a reflective surface such as a window, storefront, puddle, etc. you never know what you’re going to find. I like to think of this notion about photography:
What you see is not what you get, what you get is what you did not see
Photography is magic because the photographs you make will often leave you surprised by the result itself. When you look at things with your two eyes, it’s not necessarily what will reveal itself in the photograph. This is especially true when it comes to photographing through a reflective surface.
Use photography as a way to observe life
Yesterday I was photographing along Penn’s Landing, and I like to make a photograph of the same Benjamin Franklin bridge every day. I find this to be a fun, creative constraint that forces me to see from new perspectives each day. I stumbled across a reflective surface as I saw the way in which the bridge was magnified and peered through. It was a unique reflection as I could see directly through the window on the other side, but crush out all the detail around the window. I find that every reflective surface offers something new. I can make pictures every single day of the same thing, but always find a different way to uplift it with a photograph if I simply remain curious and open to looking through the surfaces all around me.