Photos of frames - help please!

[LaraLeib]

Hi All,

I know the labs are discussing photography this week but I don't know that I'll be able to make it to the live chats - and I'm not sure my particular question will be covered.

While I know my photography in general could use some work, my biggest issue is that most of my items are in frames (either glass or acrylic) and regardless of what lighting or camera settings I use, I cannot get rid of the glare! Some of my photos look like I may as well be shooting a mirror as the photo initially looks like one of me taking the picture, rather than the item. When I edit them using Picnick or other software they end up looking washed or grainy.

Any words of advice here would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

[Former_Member]

here's a photog trick... take the glass out of the frame and photograph the item like that. That will solve your glare issue. Lots of photographers do that when photographing work with glass in frame.

[Former_Member]

If you can't remove the glass (which is a great idea btw) and if you're using a DSLR camera, invest in a polarizing filter. It screws on to the end of your camera lens, and you turn the filter until you can't see the glare anymore. They work just like polarizing sunglasses, reducing glare and reflections. They're not super cheap, but if you're investing in your shop, and if you can't get rid of the glass in the frames (which would be my first choice) then a polarizing filter will be worth the investment.

This article has more on polarizing filters, it's mostly about landscape photography, but it will give you an idea of how they work.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/polarizers.shtml

hope that helps!!

[Former_Member]

Take out the glass!

[LaraLeib]

Thanks for the feedback - unfortunately I can't always take out the glass (some of my designs on are the frames themselves. While my camera has a lot of functionality it's not a DSLR so I'm not sure about changing the lenses - will look into that though.

Thanks, and any other tips for taking the pictures or editing them would be welcome and appreciated!