Reflections are light bouncing off the surface of the water, so it’s more to do with angle (which is influenced by distance)
https://ranchocordovaarts.org/art-tips/water-reflections
The object and its reflection will have an identical height only if your direction of view is nearly parallel to the water surface.
In your example, the photographer is in a position where the two are equal. The characteristics of the water are not relevant.
Thank you very nice!
The reflection happens at surface level and it doesn’t have “depth”, so the water level dictates that. The actual light dynamics are beyond my knowledge
The depth is just an illusion?
In the reflection, the tip of the mountain is not any deeper in the water than the base. The tip is closer to the camera, giving it the appearance it’s going down
