Shooting into a mirror
Jan 15, 2012 13:06:29 #
Josh - are you using a powersnoot for the Dish Model shoot? I noticed the blacking-out of the background and instantly thought of Gary Fong's device. I recently bought one and still having trouble getting the effect I want. Tell me, if you will, how you are getting that effect (settings). Just pick one photo and describe for me. Much appreciated.
Jan 15, 2012 13:23:12 #
Josh, I went to your Facebook page and tutorials.
WOW!
Thank you so much!
WOW!
Thank you so much!
PhotoJosh wrote:
Yeah sorry, don't want to do the dreaded thread hijacking, so I'll be quick. The actual photo is of her reflection, so I'm shooting into the mirror, at her. You can see more of the photos here. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.280105195376371.80519.172424169477808&type=3
Jan 15, 2012 13:29:18 #
The secondary question, about shooting through glass, has its own answer, already more or less answered. I like to shoot through glass, with or without flash.
Without flash, I stand to one side, shooting at an angle, while letting the camera do the focusing. This approach works for me. See the image below.
With flash, the angle of incidence dictates aiming the flash unit at an angle to the glass surface. Some light will bounce off the glass surface, away from the camera lens, but most of the flash lighting will transmit to the subject. This technique allows the photographing of aquarium subjects.
The ETTL function of the flash unit and the related camera exposure system will capture a decent exposure of the subject when using flash lighting this way.
Without flash, I stand to one side, shooting at an angle, while letting the camera do the focusing. This approach works for me. See the image below.
With flash, the angle of incidence dictates aiming the flash unit at an angle to the glass surface. Some light will bounce off the glass surface, away from the camera lens, but most of the flash lighting will transmit to the subject. This technique allows the photographing of aquarium subjects.
The ETTL function of the flash unit and the related camera exposure system will capture a decent exposure of the subject when using flash lighting this way.
Toys in Machine (taken with Canon S100 [no flash])
![Toys in Machine (taken with Canon S100 [no flash])...](https://static.uglyhedgehog.com/upload/2012/1/15/thumb-1326652158767-toys_in_machine_20120114_misc_7463_as_smart_object_1.jpg)
Jan 15, 2012 16:50:49 #
The camera does not know there is a mirror there, it will focus on the subject. If the camera is 7 feet from the mirror and the subject is 3 feet from the mirror the camera should be focused to 10' for a clear pictue.
Jan 15, 2012 19:12:21 #
GC likes NIKON wrote:
begmon's post about shooting a scene in a beautyshop setting and including the subjects in the mirror posed this question in my mind:
When shooting into a mirror, where does the camera focus if you want the subjects sharp. If you are using AF, does the lens focus on the image plane of the glass ?? or the reflected image 5 feet beyond ?? In other words, If the subject is 5 feet in front of the glass. Do you focus for 5 feet or manual focus for that distance plus another 5 feet ??
When shooting into a mirror, where does the camera focus if you want the subjects sharp. If you are using AF, does the lens focus on the image plane of the glass ?? or the reflected image 5 feet beyond ?? In other words, If the subject is 5 feet in front of the glass. Do you focus for 5 feet or manual focus for that distance plus another 5 feet ??
Wow. Reminds me of a looping quandary in the original Terminator movie. John Connor sends his right hand man and best friend back to the past to save his mother from extermination. While there he impregnate John's mother so she has John as a baby months after he died. Thus John's friend was his father before being sent back but was the same age as John in the future. If the best friend would have lived in the past and returned to the future eventually through growing older, instead of the Terminator killing him, he would have been 20+ years older than John in the future instead of the same age. Hmm...
Anyway... to expand on your mirror theme, if you stood with a 6 foot tall exactly vertical mirror 3-feet in front of you and one 3-feet behind you, and looked at the one in front of you, you should see hundreds of images of yourself repeated as the images reflect back and forth for theoretical infinity between the two mirrors.
If you're holding a camera and take a photo at the mirror in front of yourself, is it the mirror surface that is the focus point or is it 3 feet different because you are 3 feet from the reflective surface?
Jan 15, 2012 20:02:59 #
Hi! As you can see I too am a fan of Nikon. This was taken with a D40 set to automatic. I shot this while sitting at a desk that had a mirror on the wall behind it so I was only about two feet from the glass. What I found interesting was that not only the first reflection was in focus but the second one in the camera's lens is in focus too. I have to credit Nikon as when I took this I was really new at this. I did flip the image so the name on the strap looked right.
Jan 15, 2012 20:18:48 #
The camera takes a picture of the reflective surface lying beneath the mirror glass.
Put another way, how could the camera sensor and exposure system know the travel distance of photons beyond the reflective surface of the mirror?
quote=marcomarks]
Wow. Reminds me of a looping quandary in the original Terminator movie. John Connor sends his right hand man and best friend back to the past to save his mother from extermination. While there he impregnate John's mother so she has John as a baby months after he died. Thus John's friend was his father before being sent back but was the same age as John in the future. If the best friend would have lived in the past and returned to the future eventually through growing older, instead of the Terminator killing him, he would have been 20+ years older than John in the future instead of the same age. Hmm...
Anyway... to expand on your mirror theme, if you stood with a 6 foot tall exactly vertical mirror 3-feet in front of you and one 3-feet behind you, and looked at the one in front of you, you should see hundreds of images of yourself repeated as the images reflect back and forth for theoretical infinity between the two mirrors.
If you're holding a camera and take a photo at the mirror in front of yourself, is it the mirror surface that is the focus point or is it 3 feet different because you are 3 feet from the reflective surface?[/quote]
Put another way, how could the camera sensor and exposure system know the travel distance of photons beyond the reflective surface of the mirror?
quote=marcomarks]
GC likes NIKON wrote:
begmon's post about shooting a scene in a beautyshop setting and including the subjects in the mirror posed this question in my mind:
When shooting into a mirror, where does the camera focus if you want the subjects sharp. If you are using AF, does the lens focus on the image plane of the glass ?? or the reflected image 5 feet beyond ?? In other words, If the subject is 5 feet in front of the glass. Do you focus for 5 feet or manual focus for that distance plus another 5 feet ??
When shooting into a mirror, where does the camera focus if you want the subjects sharp. If you are using AF, does the lens focus on the image plane of the glass ?? or the reflected image 5 feet beyond ?? In other words, If the subject is 5 feet in front of the glass. Do you focus for 5 feet or manual focus for that distance plus another 5 feet ??
Wow. Reminds me of a looping quandary in the original Terminator movie. John Connor sends his right hand man and best friend back to the past to save his mother from extermination. While there he impregnate John's mother so she has John as a baby months after he died. Thus John's friend was his father before being sent back but was the same age as John in the future. If the best friend would have lived in the past and returned to the future eventually through growing older, instead of the Terminator killing him, he would have been 20+ years older than John in the future instead of the same age. Hmm...
Anyway... to expand on your mirror theme, if you stood with a 6 foot tall exactly vertical mirror 3-feet in front of you and one 3-feet behind you, and looked at the one in front of you, you should see hundreds of images of yourself repeated as the images reflect back and forth for theoretical infinity between the two mirrors.
If you're holding a camera and take a photo at the mirror in front of yourself, is it the mirror surface that is the focus point or is it 3 feet different because you are 3 feet from the reflective surface?[/quote]
Street Lamp Base, Tijuana, Baja State, Mexico
Jan 16, 2012 08:50:52 #
This will be my final comment on the subject of mirrors. What ever you do, don't break the mirror, or it's seven years of bad luck.
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