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Category: Studio, Still, & Personal Portraiture Photography

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Avoiding Reflection from Eyeglasses


How can I avoid reflections from eyeglasses? My camera has a built in flash (Sony DSC-F717).


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September 23, 2005

 
- Carolyn M. Fletcher

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  Turn off the flash!


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September 24, 2005

 
- Bob Cournoyer

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  Have the person wearing glasses raise that part that goes over the ear a quarter or half so the glasses' lens is more at a downward angle. Don't tilt them so much that it looks odd, just enough to not bounce the flash reflection back at the camera...
Hope this helps.


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September 24, 2005

 
- Bob Cournoyer

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  Too early ... Make that a quarter or half INCH above the ear.


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September 24, 2005

 

Bob Cammarata
  If the person will oblige, ask him or her politely to take them off for the photo. If they are hesitant to do this, stand at a slight angle. The reflections from the flash will fall out of frame.


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September 24, 2005

 

Carol Kalinowski
 
 
 
I take a lot of pics of fish. I have 12 aquariums up to 6 ft long ... so lots of practice with glass and glare. To use flash and cut glare, just hold a piece of paper towel or tissue over the flash. You can experiment with how many layers. Some fish photographers also tape the paper towel on ... just make sure it isn't resting directly against the flash. Works like a charm.


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September 25, 2005

 

Bunny Snow
  I've always been told by teachers, who were professional portrait photographers, to see if the customer could bring a pair of similar glasses (to what they normally would wear) but wearing them without the lenses. That is, with the frames, but without the glass. I've found retouching flashes in the glass is more than my nerves can handle. However, I've also noticed that if you don't photograph the person straight on, like more to the side, there is no reflection (depending, of course, on the placement of the lights). By far, however, it's best to remove the glass from the frames ... because your fill-in light may hit the glass in a way that is a big negative all the way around.
It takes a lot of practice to find the correct angle to light and shoot with the lenses in the frame. Plus, their facial features may not be best captured at that angle.


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September 26, 2005

 

Margie
  I have also heard about asking the person to bring glasses without lenses. I think this is ridiculous. Many people wouldn't own several pairs of glasses and they shouldn't have to remove the lenses to make your shoot easier. My opinion is that this shows you're not very professional and gives the impression that you don't know what you're doing. Far better to use one of the other techniques mentioned than give the impression you can't handle the situation.


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September 28, 2005

 
- Bob Cournoyer

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  Wife and I had our portrait done last night for a church directory. Olan Mills (studio) did the photoing. 10 shots in about 5 minutes. Fade out, fade in to the sales pitch room.....they slip a floppy disk (how many quality pics can a floppy disk hold?)with our 10 pics on it into a laptop for us to preview....big square glare on my glasses in each pic...they told me it wouldn't be there in the printed pics we would be getting, that they would "fix it".......I understand in digital that there are some things you can let slide and "fix" later, but I was still a tad disappointed that they let the glare slide in the first place.
Bob


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September 28, 2005

 

Bunny Snow
  It's very tough, Bob, to avoid the glare and reflection, and even tougher to spot or retouch it out. This is because a true artist is needed to rebuild the customer's eye and face once the reflection occurs. Hence, it not only takes time but also more money to pay a talented artist to reconstitute what should have been avoided in the first place.

I've seen images where reknown professionals such as the reknown Yosuf Karsh, the portrait photographer's photographer, has the "talent" holding his/her pair of eye glasses in their hands, rather than having their glasses on their face.

Prevention is better than frustration and unhappy customers.

~Bunny


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September 28, 2005

 
- Bob Cournoyer

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  Yeah, I was wondering what my eye would look like afterwards. I was gonna ask, but opted not to.
It's getting close to Halloween, tho, so I could go to the dollar store and buy a pirate eye-patch and slap that on the picture....:-)


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September 28, 2005

 

Maria Melnyk
  Don't use pop-up flash. Use a flash unit that you can raise above the camera.

In either case, some cameras give off a pre-flash, so you can see the effect as you take the picture. Also, if you use umbrella or softbox lighting, you can see the modeling lights reflecting on the glasses, so if that's the case, you can make your adjustments before you take the picture.


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September 28, 2005

 

Bunny Snow
  I received better lighting when using an external flash off the camera and angled slightly toward a 45 degree angle. But, there still was a reflection. Additionally, there are soft boxes that come in narrow rectangles, and look more natural for some reflections in glassware, for example. But, not in eye glasses, unless both your "talent" (customer) approves along with you, the photographer.

Prevention is still better than guessing.


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September 28, 2005

 
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