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Taking photos of glass objects can be one of the hardest things to do. You can get funny reflections, glare and strange little halos if you don’t know what you are doing. These tips will help you photograph glass objects with confidence.
Glare
One of the biggest problems with photographing glass is glare. Glare can happen when light reflects off of the glass and into the lens. This is usually caused by a flash.
Glare can be avoided by positioning the camera at an angle. Take a look at the sample photos of a glass covered sign. In the first photo, the camera and flash was positioned directly in front of the sign. The flash bounced off of the glass and hit the lens, creating a less than ideal photo. In the second photo the camera and the flash were positioned to the side, softening the flash on the object, and creating less glare.
Another way to avoid glare and get a flawless picture is to use a polarizing filter that fits on the lens of your camera. These tend to be fairly inexpensive. For really bad glares you may need to shoot at an angle and use a polarizing filter.
Reflections
Reflections in your glass object are fixed much like glare. What you want to do is position yourself so that your body and the camera are not reflected in the glass.
Sometimes other objects reflected in your object can add charm to the photo. For example, the reflection of a child’s face in a photo of a candy store window can be quite attractive.
Halos
Halos are those funny little white spots on glass. These are caused by oils and residue on the glass from hands or dust. The simplest answer to this problem is to simply clean the object.