Lighting 101: Lighting for Glasses
This one is gonna be quick and dirty. If you already know how to do a portrait without having to worry about reflections in peoples' glasses, just scroll down to the bottom and move on.But if glasses have been giving you a Devil of a time, this is gonna be one of those Homer Simpson "D'Oh!" moments. And if you are having trouble with it, don't feel bad. I did, too.
The problem is that if you are going to the trouble to light someone, you are naturally inclined to have them face toward the light. Which is fine.
Unless they are wearing glasses.
To avoid refections in glasses, simply light from one side and have the person face the other. There is no need to be shooting all of the way in profile, either. A flattering, 3/4 angle (subject to camera) will work just fine.
Think of the light hitting the glasses as a pool ball. It's going to reflect off of the glasses, no matter what. The thing is to position the glasses so that the angle is such that the light reflects harmlessly off into space. Doesn't really matter where. Just not towards your camera.
If the subject is looking away from the light, that's a piece of cake. That's all there is to it.
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by David, at 6:21 PM.
16 Comments:
Another tip: reflections need a precise set of angles to produce. Facing the subject away from the light is really one way of changing the angles between glasses, light and lens.
When you see a reflection another approach is that raising the lighting a few feet higher up (at the same position) will generally accomplish the same goal.
Reflections usually indicate that the three items (glasses, lens, camera) are on one plane, so actaully you can pick _any_ one of the three things and alter it to remove the glare.
or... remove lenses from the glasses..
Peace! GB<><
iceix
And what if the shape of the subject's face dictates a short light?
My favorite trick is to raise the feet of the glasses (the part that goes behind the ears) up the head a little bit. This has the effect of tilting the glasses downward and usually takes care of any glare. The trick is not tilting the glasses so much that they look like the subject doesn't know how to wear them.
Any angle that doesn't reflect the light of the flash (or other bright light source) back at the camera will work. In other words, you can have your subjects tilt their heads in various directions, adjust the glasses as mentioned above or adjust the light positions (up, down and off to the sides works equally well.)
I'm curious as to why no one uses a circ polarizer to eat the glass reflections?
Agreed couldnt you use a circular poloriser to remove the reflections of glass and compensate the fact its darker by bumping the flash up a stop or two?
As someone who often used to be at the receiving end of various photographers' inventive ideas to get rid of glasses reflections, I can tell you that asking your subject to tilt their head up/down is *not* the best way to achieve this.
People's glasses are like an extension of their face. Move your lights and/or camera before you try and get the subject to compensate for your setup.
It might not appear this way for a non-glasses wearer, but techniques like Jason's (above) completely change the way a person looks. God forbid you then try and sell them the pictures!
A polariser will reduce glare or scattered ambient light but cannot remove the reflection of a direct light source such as a strobe
If you use a polarizing filter on camera, you would also need to filter your light source in order to effectively eliminate glare on glasses.
I worked at a carriage trade studio back in the 70's after college. The owner taught me a lot of lighting tricks during my time there - painting with light for large areas etc. Another easy one is to ask your portrait subject to stop at their optometrist on the way to the portrait sitting and borrow a set of blank (no lenses) frames to match the ones they normally wear.
Removing lenses may not the best thing either. My children have very strong prescription glasses to correct their eyesight. Once you take the glasses off their eyeball moves inwards quite a bit. If you were to give them frames without lenses, their eyes would look quite silly.
Keep the glasses and work on posing and light position instead.
Thanks for the tip! =D I did some studio shoots before and also noticed that whenever I ask the subject to slight tilt his/her head it gets the job done.
Then again, it's always good to learn something new =D
Maybe it's just me but I notice it right away whenever an actor in a film wears glasses that are either lensless or PLAIN (non-prescription) glass. Either looks odd and artificial.
SOME hint of curved reflection is NORMAL and when it's not there I notice it.
I find an angle that minimizes but does not eliminate all reflections.
In some (OK - one) of my most memorable portraits I had the subject remove his spectacles and hold them with one of the curved ear pieces just touching his lips as if he were in deep thought. It looked perfectly natural and made for a far more interesting photo than the same shot with him wearing them.
I'm just reading through this for the first time, but as someone who's worn glasses for almost 25 years, I want to say that if anyone tried to remove the lenses, or adjust the way I wear my glasses, they would no longer have a client. The last thing you want to do as a non-eye glasses wearer is to try to touch someone's glasses. Not only will you piss me off pretty good by trying to take the lenses out (they're expensive, and not always covered by insurance), but if you *do* manage to get them out, you'll be dealing with serious squint & grimace issues.
I get very defensive when I see someone reaching for my glasses, and I take offense to people who don't wear glasses trying to mess with my glasses.
And since glasses are a medical aid, I'd like to flip it and ask who would mess with someone's cane, crutches or wheel chair because you were too lazy to move your lights.
Holy crap, Paul - Lighten up! The post was about choosing a lighting angle so that you would not get reflections.
For Pete's sake, you'd better not ever pose for a wedding group photo in China...
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