Avoiding Reflections In Glasses
If you have ever taken a portrait of an individual who wears glasses, one of the common battles you would have faced is overcoming reflections within the glass. In this blog I'm going to reveal how I avoided this when photographing Sam as part of my 2018 charity project; MoustachioNut.
Equipment
Nikon D750
Nikkor 24-120mm at 120mm
Elinchrom D-Lite RX4 (x2)
3 Legged Thing tripod (Winston)
backdrop - black vinyl
Camera Settings
ISO 100, f/10, 1/160 sec.
The Set Up
As you can see from this lighting diagram I had Sam stand to the right of the camera slightly, and positioned one of the D-Lie RX4's directly behind him, angled up towards the backdrop to provide some separation between him and the backdrop.
Whilst you can see that the main light, the second D-Lite RX4 inside a small square soft box, is positioned to the (camera) left side of Sam's face, what you can't see from this diagram however is the height in which the soft box is positioned.
In order to avoid the reflection of the light in the glasses I moved the light upwards, keeping my eyes on the sunglasses, until I couldn't see the soft box. Once the soft box was out of view I could then angle it down slightly in order to light the face. If I hadn't have angled the light down the light drop off on the face may well have occurred from about the cheek area.
Editing Process
Adobe Lightroom:
BASIC
Temp 6,100
Tint +10
Contrast +47
Clarity +10
LENS CORRECTON
Remove Chromatic Aberration
Enable Profile Corrections
EFFECTS
Dehaze +19
Adobe Photoshop:
Sharpening using the high pass filter on the beard.
Self Critique
If you look at the (camera) left lens of Sam's glasses you will notice the bottom of the soft box creeping into the shot. I don't actually mind this as I think it adds a nice catch light effect to the lens, however, this is an easy fix by simply raising the light stand a fraction.
Looking back at this shot, what I find frustrating is the crop, as I feel that it is too tight. Given the opportunity to turn back time I would have moved back half a step.
Conclusion
I hope you found this post useful. I aim to share posts like this regularly, so if you found benefit in this, consider following me so you don't have to remember to check back as you'll be notified every time I post something new.
To find out more about the MoustachioNut project 'click here'. Your support in helping me meet my target would be very much appreciated.
Also, I've set up a closed Facebook group that I've called Corpus Callosum. The concept is to bring creators together, for us to share ideas, to showcase our work, collaborate, ask questions and learn from one another, to discuss concepts and to refer work between us. I'd love for you to be part of this community.
Until next time.
Gary.
Be Creative. Be Inspired. Be You
e : gary.fernon@photoreceptorcell.co.uk
Resources:
Lighting Diagram from www.lightingdiagrams.com
