wvatxn Loc: Texas

I am trying to take pictures of two gloss football helmets and I cannot get around the glare and reflections showing up. I have tried taking them both inside and outside. I am not using a flash and
I am using an Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the Olympus 12-40mm Pro lens.

What do you do to help eliminate flares and reflections? Thanks.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Use a polarizing filter(s).

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

I would try a light tent.

warrior Loc: Paso Robles CA

wvatxn Loc: Texas

A light tent and/or a polarizing filter. Both make a lot of sense. Thank you so much. I appreciate your answering. Should save me a lot of frustration.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've noticed that cameras seem to pick up glare that I can't see. It's like they want to cause us trouble. I recall seeing a pro use a spray of some kind on a shiny object.

Some possibilities -
http://nofilmschool.com/2015/02/reflective-surfaces-ruin-shots-quick-fixes
https://www.pixelz.com/blog/photographing-highly-reflective-products/
http://learnmyshot.com/how-to-photograph-shiny-reflective-objects-silver-chrome-metal/

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Polarizers will remove and or eliminate reflections from NON METALLIC surfaces.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Yes, a polarizing filter that attaches to your lens is your first possibility. For an autofocus camera, it needs to be a circular polarizer.

There are also polarizing filters that come in sheets and can be used on the light source(s), to help control reflections.

I don't agree about a light tent... Might reduce glare, but one of those will often only increase the area of reflection (which can be useful with some types of objects).

A tilt-shift lens also can be useful controlling reflections. The shift movement is used to keep your own reflection out of the image (i.e. "self portrait" of yourself and/or your camera).

And, yes, there are temporary matte finish coatings that can be sprayed onto objects to reduce glare and reflections.

Beware of removing too much of the reflection... For example, while I wanted to deepen the color of the sky and water in this image, I didn't want to completely eliminate the reflections of the boats off the water. I adjusted a circular polarizer carefully to reduce, but not completely remove all the reflections of the white fishing boats in the water....

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Try using polarizing filters! In the studio, we also used a spray (made by 3M) that reduced/dulled glare to about nothing, when photographing television sets (to kill the flare of the screens) - worked just fine!

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Glare and reflections have to come from a light source. What you need to do is soften the source.

forjava Loc: Half Moon Bay, CA

Agreed. I'd add that it may be necessary to further soften the light beyond what the tent does.
Supposing, for simplicity, that you are using one light; position it so that the angle of incidence prevents a direct reflection into the lens. See Hunter et. al.

This is a big, difficult topic.
First, we notice we can't fight the light; then we discover how to get along with it.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Be aware that light polarization is all about the angle the light makes with a surface and for a curved surface it is the angle to the tangent plane. For a curved surface the angle thus varies and the amount of polarization will vary. Thus the polarizing filter will display a varying gradation of extinction across the surface of the helmet. Using devices like tents diffuse the light, but some light rays will be at the optimum polarization angle so the polarization filter will extinguish only those light rays and should not affect the others. You will probably have to experiment around positioning the light source and tent position to find the optimum position. Let us know how you make out with all that.

wvatxn Loc: Texas

Wow! Thank you, guys. I had no idea of all these ways. I have taken the first step in ordering a Tiffen circular polarizing filter from Amazon which is supposed to be here tomorrow. I am anxious to try it and check for comparisons. If need be I will go on from there. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge.

wvatxn Loc: Texas

Such a beautiful picture and such a beautiful scene. Thank you for sharing.