Lakes with perfect reflections.

[ed2288]

Hi I was just wondering what conditions are needed to enable a lake to give a perfect mirror image of the surroundings. Take for example, Lake Louise, in the Rockies.
compare:
http://www.americanroundup.com/lakelouise_4x6_ 300dpi.jpg

with:
http://z.about.com/d/gocanada/1/7/f/1/-/-/Lake LouiseFairmontCanoeing.JPG

It's the same lake, but in the first picture, it's like a mirror, and in the second its like frosted glass. Any ideas why?

[Clanad]

Two things are occurring... in the first, the sun is low and behind the photographer, making the reflected light from the mountains more direct and in the second the sun is in front of the photographer making the reflection less sharp. The first photo has nearly perfectly still water... no ripples, no wind, whereas the second has ripples from a breeze as well as disturbance from boats...

[ll_billym]

I'm not sure how to explain it properly but in the second photo the weather is "hazy", meaning that you cannot see as far with as great clarity so there is less of an image to reflect in the water.

If you think what you would see if it was really foggy (not a lot) then you can appreciate how this makes a difference.