Where did these lines come from

I need some help to understand where these lines in the mirror came from and how to avoid them in the future. I think its something to do with the flash. The flash is the one built into the camera.

Camera Canon PowerShot Pro 1 with flach at 1/60th

Weird...To me it looks like the lines are actually on the wall facing the mirror, and the mirror is reflecting that...Like the lines bounced off the mirror onto the wall, and then the sensor captured them reflecting back onto the mirror. It looks that way because the outline of the golden leaf thing is shadowed into the lines, and the lines match the contour of the wall facing the mirror. But I don't know why it would happen...

I have been experimentng.

These only appear when I use flash on top of the camera - haven't got an alternative flash gun yet. Is this something to do with the bevels at the edge of the mirror acting as a prism causing some form of redirection of the light which is then reflected onto the wall and then bounced back into the mirror and then camera,

If I change position I still get the effect but only with flash?

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Originally Posted by readingr

I have been experimentng.

These only appear when I use flash on top of the camera - haven't got an alternative flash gun yet. Is this something to do with the bevels at the edge of the mirror acting as a prism causing some form of redirection of the light which is then reflected onto the wall and then bounced back into the mirror and then camera,

If I change position I still get the effect but only with flash?

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I think you have it. The light from the flash is refracted in the bevels and reflected onto the walls in back of you and that's being recorded in the reflection in your photo. If you look at the walls instead of the viewfinderwhile taking the picture you might be able to see the momentary lighting on the walls.

Tried looking at the walls but the flash is a bit to fast to notice on the walls themselves. Oh well I wish the tripod would get here. Ordered it yesterday.

Internal reflections in the bevelled glass around the edge of the mirror.
You could try bounce flash off the ceiling perhaps?