Lot's of reflections. Have any of you have suggestions how to get rid of reflections.
I did use a CPL filter which reduced about 50%.
The most obvious reflection is your head. If you reshoot, you're settings / CPL position seems fine. Just put the camera on self-timer and step out of the room. Another reshoot idea is to lower / turn off the lights outside the shower area, particularly the overhead light above and behind where you're standing.
Those are simple to get rid of. It's the big window reflections.
Unfortunately this was a very rush, no time for testing etc by the designer who was giving me directions.
Was the designer the photographer or you? Who is measured by the resulting images, the designer or you?
To take away the window (I guess you mean on the left of the image), lowering the lights is still an idea as well as placing a towel over entire window, probably of a beige or similar / neutral color. You might get closer and / or work at an angle so the window and reflection are not in the frame. The window appears to be reflecting light from inside the room, not from outside the room.
Your Photos Stink! Just kidding! That's the name of a book I have. It's called: Your Photos Stink!: David Busch's Lessons in Elevating Your Photography from Awful to Awesome. He shows photos that need fixin' and explains what he did to fix it. He shows an after photo to demonstrate that it worked. I looked up an example of how he fixed reflections. He did exactly what you did and used a circular polarizer.
CHG Canon has something there. Maybe a low light level will further reduce reflections. You might have to mount the camera on a tripod because of the long shutter speed.
Set up a big white or light grey board (or curtain) behind the camera, blocking the back wall. Move away from the camera and either control the shutter via remote, or set timer. Then the only object reflected will be the camera, which can be subdued in editing to make less obvious.
Night time will be better to take this kind of photo.
But the designer only gives a minute per photo. We went 4 houses and it was a mad rush of fifty total photos.
It's all a matter of angle of incidence. If you shoot directly into glass it is very likely to becom a mirror depending on the amount of illumination in front and in back of it and the density of any tinting. Shooting at an oblique angle to the glass surface is one approach. Using a polarizing filter may be remedial depending on the direction of the lighting. I'm surprised the "designer" selected a dead on angle like that- it doesn't show depth or detail in the shower installation.
The angle of incidence principle is simple enough- the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. When you photograph a glass, highly reflective or polished surface you are photographing reflections of the surroundings. It easy enough to see what you are doing with a mirror or a chrome plated object but a glass bath enclosure is only a "partial mirror" so to speak, so you need to look carefully and position the camera at an angle other than the angle of reflection. If there is time you can use gobos to block the light bouncing off the surroundings and keep yourself and the camera out of the equation. If you are in a rush or don't have those gobos (they would need to be very large) the only thing you can do is move around and find the angle. If you are supplying all the lightning you may gain more control in that you can move the ligh around.. If you are at the mercy of existing lighting- it's more difficult. In a small bathroom it can be a nightmare!
Extend my congratulations to the designer- it's a lovely bathroom! I'm sure it didn't take him or her 15 minutes to design or install it. Next time (diplomatically) tell the designer to stick to designing and leave the photography to you.
A certain amount of reflection is natural if it is not obscuring anything or becoming a distraction.
Welcome to commercial photography- last week I had a "art director" hand me a layout for a refrigerator brochure with horizontal boxes for each tall refrigerators. Maybe he thought they were chest freezers?
Thesre were 10 angles to this bathroom. This of course was the worst view point.
kenArchi wrote:
Those are simple to get rid of. It's the big window reflections.
Unfortunately this was a very rush, no time for testing etc by the designer who was giving me directions.
When I want to avoid reflections in glass, countertops, etc. I place a gobo between the reflecting item and the surface I don't want a reflection. In your case, a black or gray sheet hung on the frame to block the reflection and then mask that file into this file so the glass is clean or allow just a hint of the frame using the fader. No one will miss the offending reflection.
I can imagine many the many positions you had to choose from, but shoot what the designer wants and then shoot what you want, just in case.
Nobody has suggested a shift lens with which you can set the camera to the left and still center the image as if the camera were directly where you were positioned. Perhaps you might ant to rent one to try that out, if this is going to be a regular thing.
Another approach, though a bit more cumbersome, could be to use a large dark non-reflective board with a hole cut out for the lens to poke through; this way the reflection in the glass would only be of the dark (and presumably consistently flat) board.
f8lee wrote:
Nobody has suggested a shift lens with which you can set the camera to the left and still center the image as if the camera were directly where you were positioned. Perhaps you might ant to rent one to try that out, if this is going to be a regular thing.
Another approach, though a bit more cumbersome, could be to use a large dark non-reflective board with a hole cut out for the lens to poke through; this way the reflection in the glass would only be of the dark (and presumably consistently flat) board.
Nobody has suggested a shift lens with which you c... (
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I thought of that, 2 problems... the shift required appears to my eye, more than the width of the glass shower. It might work, but I think the tripod legs might still be in the reflection on the right side. Of course, that means fewer reflections to take out. The second problem is he is talking about the window frame reflection.
Use a tripod and polarize filter... ;)
light the venue yourself... use blackout material to kill all external light...
This is SOP for interior architectural renderings... fyi I've assisted many commercial architectural shooters in my market... we have taken literially hours just to do a single room... Also position the camera on a tripod which allows the identical scene to be captured with house lights so they can be added in post...
Best Advice? Assist other commercial shooters in your market... This has been my path and for so many others on their journey...
Wishing you much success kenArchi
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