Pac828 Loc: Dutchess County ,New York

I am trying to photograph art work behind glass
I create window boxes out of actual old windows with art work inside
Similar to Joseph Cornell's boxes
I am having trouble photographing the box with the window closed to give the total effect.
The reflection of light off the glass hides what is inside.
I have tried a polarizer no good
Any ideas

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

One idea would be to put the light inside the box ! :)

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

You must cover everthing in front of the glass with black dropcloth and allow as little as possible ambient light to fall on your camera/tripod and the rest of the room. You could also try polarizers on your lights......you could also try putting non glare glass in place of regular glass ...

Pac828 Loc: Dutchess County ,New York

I'm not sure there is room, but that is something to look into :)
Thank you

Pac828 Loc: Dutchess County ,New York

I did try using the cloth, That did not work
I did not know there were polarizers for lights. Do i need special lights for that?
Too expensive to change the glass, I use old windows taken from homes and buildings that are demolished.
Thank you

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

As a last resort, you could spray the glass with a satin or lightly frosted film OR, glue or tape a piece of clear frosted plastic over the glass just for the picture .....

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Use a rubber lens hood and make sure the entire perimeter of the edge touches the glass.

crimesc324 Loc: West Palm Beach, Florida

They do make sheets of polarizing material to put in front of the light source, you should also but a polarizing filter on the lens. At work we use a copy stand with polarizing filters in front of the 4 lights and on the camera to reduce or stop glare and it works very well

crimesc324 Loc: West Palm Beach, Florida

Rubber lens hood won't work, he is trying to take pictures of pictures behind the glass not take pictures of pictures thru the glass like at an aquarium

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

My understanding is that he wants to include the window and it's frame as part of the photo. So a rubber lens hood will not work.

Is it possible to remove the glass altogether? With old wooden windows you'd have to be careful not to damage the putty, especially on the outside that will show in the photo.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Did you try a polarizer on your lens?

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Did you try a polarizer on your lens?

Woodham Lock Loc: Woodham UK

You should look at a rubber lense hood-very cheap. Put the lense right up to the glass

Chuck_893 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

I've read and thought about this pretty carefully. I suspect your light source, whatever it is, is pretty close to the lens axis—that is, if you draw an imaginary line through the camera to the subject, that's the axis, and if the light source is on or very close to it, it will cause reflections, like trying to take a "selfie" with flash-on-camera in a mirror. The challenge for you is that the glass on the box is a mirror, so it reflects whatever is in front of it. Because it is that wonderful old crown glass you want to see that it's there and that it has texture, so you don't want to remove it.

A physical principle is that "the angle of reflectance equals the angle of incidence," which is a hifalutin' way of saying that the light source(s) need to be on an angle off of the axis of the lens. You tried a polarizer, and that won't work unless the light incident to (falling on) the box is "cross polarized," plus on some angle other than 90° to the lens axis. You would not need special lights, but you would need "sheet polarizers" large enough to place in front of whatever lights you are using, and the lights need to be on an angle from the box you are photographing. I've been hunting for mounted polarizers like I had in my old copy setup and can't find them, but try this link to give the idea: http://www.amazon.com/Educational-Innovations-Polarizing-Filter/dp/B009P8B548/ref=pd_cp_p_0
Those are simple 6x6-inch linear polarizers. If the light(s) are small, they will work, but you might have to cobble up a cardboard mount. The trick is simple: the lights are polarized, say, vertically, and the circular polarizer on the lens is set so its axis is horizontal. So long as the glass door on the box is not reflecting a light, the glass should photograph with few reflections except the camera itself, and if the room is otherwise dark, that may be acceptable.

In fact, you may not even need cross-polarization if the room is otherwise darkened and the light(s) are off the lens axis. Just bear in mind that the glass on the door of the box is a mirror. It will reflect anything directly in front of it. :wink:

gee4time

Take two shots. One of the picture and one of the window asyou visualize them together. Use Photoshop to combine them.