photographing mirrors...

mark richards

mark richards

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hi all, some of you might know i carve birds and other things...anyhow, i am carving mirror frames, so need to take pictures of the final product ,at moment i use a backdrop behind myself and behind the mirror
but not very happy with the results,any idea what would make it a bit more pro looking..its hard to keep yourself out of the photo, so should i use masking instead of backdrop? I only get-by in photoshop..
need to do this for my website...thanks.
the kingfisher one was laid down in garden, ok if its not raining..
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This would be easy enough to do in PP, it just involves dropping a suitable image in place, and unless you have specialised equipment, that's the easiest way of doing it.

If you want to do it in camera, it's just a simple matter of taking the shot at whatever angle shows the right reflection in the mirror.
The standard professional tool for this isn't cheap to run and requires a pretty sharp learning curve - it's a large format camera with movements, and side shift is used to avoid getting the camera and photographer in the reflected image. Easy enough, but even easieer in PP.
 
mark richards said:
cheers, Garry, looks like photoshop it is then..must get my learning cap on...mark.
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Basically, you just need to open a suitable image, re-size it to suit, then drag the image with the mirror on top of it.
Then, carefully cut out the area reflected in the mirror (currently that horrible background) and press CTRL + X to remove it. There may be a bit more to it than that, but that will get you started. Photoshop being photoshop, there are of course other ways of doing it too:)

You will then end up with the mirror showing the image that is lying behind the main photo, you then just press CTRL + E to merge layers.
 
Beg ,borrow, steal, hire or buy a tilt/shift lens

I was standing well to the left of this,the reflected chair was directly in front of the mirror

p1825035038-4.jpg
 
For a product shot like yours, I'd be tempted to cut out the mirror area and drop in a gradient in photoshop going from light grey to a slightly darker grey. Then go shoot a countryside scene and drop that in too, then pull down the opacity of the image layer to 20-30% or so. You'll end up with something like this....

View attachment 42694

If you like the result I'd be happy to give you step by step instructions that are easy to follow!

NOTE.. This technique would only look right if you are cutting out the whole frame! If not, the scene in the mirror wouldn't be relevant! You could just use the gradient without the scene.
 
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Cant comment on photographing it, but the detail of your carvings is fantastic. Amazing talent. Really enjoyed seeing your carving work.
 
I would be inclined to shoot them before you put the mirror in, against a plain coloured background that would then be very easily masked in photoshop.
I would keep the masked shots on file and drop in suitable " reflections" when needed. Some backgrounds may "sell" better than others.
That way the background can be changed at will. You could even do a motion shot with changing backgrounds of different style interiors.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
I would be inclined to shoot them before you put the mirror in, against a plain coloured background that would then be very easily masked in photoshop.
I would keep the masked shots on file and drop in suitable " reflections" when needed. Some backgrounds may "sell" better than others.
That way the background can be changed at will. You could even do a motion shot with changing backgrounds of different style interiors.
Click to expand...
:plus1:

Plus this will allow you to do better lighting in order to bring out the details more w/o the issue of mirror reflections. And it will eliminate the edge reflections which are muddying the details as it is.
(I would recommend hard side lighting across the surface w/ soft fill (or ambient).
 
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sk66 said:
:plus1:

Plus this will allow you to do better lighting in order to bring out the details more w/o the issue of mirror reflections. And it will eliminate the edge reflections which are muddying the details as it is.
(I would recommend hard side lighting across the surface w/ soft fill (or ambient).
Click to expand...
Fair point.
But, at the end of the day it still comes down to the same thing - put the "reflected image" in using PP, it't the best and easiest way. The OP just needs to master the basics of PP.
 
Great carvings and I really like gibtheo's suggestion which has a 'reflected' image suitable for the bird, ie a field for the buzzard or perhaps a stream and riverbank for the kingfisher.
 
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