How do I take a picture of a cabinet with glass doors and eliminate reflection?

<p>Hello,<br>

Can someone please tell me how to photograph a wooden cabinet with glass doors without getting a reflection from the glass? Would a polarizing filter do the trick? Also, what is the best way to illuminate the cabinet? Thanks!</p>

<p>The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. Position your light source at an angle that prevents the camera from seeing a direct reflection. You can narrow the angle of view (and thus improve your options in terms of light placement) by using a longer lens, and working from farther back.</p>

<p>Brandon,</p>

 

<p>If it’s the reflected image of the camera you’re worried about because

you’re trying to shoot the cabinet square-on, then the classic method is to use a tilt / shift

(<em>aka</em> perspective control) lens slightly off-center with a bit of shift in the opposite

direction. View cameras (the big boxes that you use by throwing a towel over your head) are ideal

for this, but that’s a can of worms you really want to be careful about opening.</p>

 

<p>Another option, if you’ve got enough image resolution to spare from your camera, is to

shoot it off-center at a slightly askew angle and then adjust it in post-production. Be sure to leave

plenty of room for cropping, as the image will have to be stretched into a non-square shape as part

of the corrective distortion.</p>

 

<p>As for the best way to illuminate it…well, that’s the hard part. “It’s all

about the light.” All photography is about nothing but the light. To do this properly,

you’d want studio lighting and a suitable backdrop (probably white seamless). If

you’re doing this as an environmental shot, you’ll have to work hard to find a

perspective that includes enough of the rest of the scene to give it a sense of fitting in without

distracting and looking cluttered. The light should be as large and close a source as possible; a well-positioned window could do the trick, or a giant softbox. Bounced flash (where you use a hotshoe-mounted flash and point the head at a wall or the ceiling) would have a great deal of

potential. Since it’s not like the cabinet is going anywhere, you could use “hot”

lights; get some cheap floodlights from your local home improvement store, and start moving and aiming them

everywhere (including the back wall of the room) until you find a position where you like the

shadows (or lack thereof) on the cabinet. Be sure you know how to properly adjust white balance and be prepared for long exposures.</p>

 

<p>If this is a one-off deal and quality is critical, you can rent all the equipment you need. If you do

a lot of it, you’ll want to invest in a suitable lens or a bellows system as well as studio

lighting and backdrops. It’s all affordable for a dedicated amateur, but not something to do on

a lark.</p>

 

<p>If you have a friend who owns the equipment, considering asking if you can borrow the equipment and / or the friend in exchange for a good meal. It could be a lot of fun all the way ’round.</p>

 

<p>Cheers,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

<p>Spiratone, back in the 70s, had polarizing filters for lights. Together with polarizers on the lens, reflections could be eliminated. Just a plain polarizing filter may help if the light is daylight (polarized). Somewhere, someone may still have sheet polarizers that could be used in this way for lighting.</p>

A polarizer won't work if you are directly in front of the glass. Shooting at an angle to the glass, the polarizer would reduce the reflections. But then, if you are an angle you and your camera wouldn't be reflected in the glass anyway.

 

Using a perspective control lens or the swings and tilts of a view camera or post production adjusting isn't going to work too well with a cabinet. If you shoot straight on, you do not see the sides of the cabinet. If you shoot from an angle, you will see the side of the cabinet and when you adjust so the front of the cabinet is square so it looks like it was shot directly in front, you still will have one side sticking out. That won't look right.

 

If the glass can't "see" anything to reflect you get no reflections. You want to set up in a darkened room, at night with the lights off would be good. Two reflector lamps on each side with barn doors so the light only falls on the cabinet and not on you will be good. As long as you are in darkness so the glass can't "see" anything to reflect you, you will get no reflections.

<p>You need to understand the family of angles or the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection (as Matt said). If you are using a very wide angle lens which is often the case for a shot like this due to limited space you would have to move your lighting to the extreme sides of the cabinet in order to avoid direct reflection.</p>

<p>To explain the family of angles. Consider the front element of your lens as the focal point, from there the angle of view spreads out in a "V" pattern to your subject. Wide angle lenses have a very wide "V", longer lenses a narrower one. When the open part of the V reaches your subject it reflects off, continuing the same angle, imagine a "W" where your camera lens is the point in the middle of the "W", your subject is located at the bottom of the "W" and the outermost arms of the "W" represent the complete family of angles. In this situation, placing the lights anywhere outside the "W" will result in no direct reflection of your lightsource to the camera lens... you won't see the lights reflected in the glass. If however, you are shooting in an illuminated room or your lightsource is casting too much light on you (the photographer) and camera or other things in the room that fall within the family of angles, they will be reflected in the glass.</p>

<p>So do what James suggested and try to darken the room as much as possible and light only your subject while keeping other things in the room as dark as possible by either limiting the light that reaches them or by camouflaging them with dark fabric. It's not as easy as it seems!</p>

<p>Polarizers may work, depending on your light source and the type of reflection. You could use polarizing film over the lights but that comes with it's own challenges.</p>

<p>My suggestion would be as follows:</p>

<p>Use the largest lightsource you can and use a large softbox or some diffusion material to soften it (Tip: A small lightsource (floodlight, shoe-mount flash) can be made into a large one by using diffusion material). Light from both sides making sure to keep the lights out of the family of angles. Prevent stray light from illuminating the rest of the room to a degree that the objects in the room will be reflected in the glass.</p>

<p>Often recommended book detailing family of angles and this sort of problem is Light, Science and Magic. </p>