Beginner taking a photo through glass

The_kid1433

The_kid1433

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Name
Paul
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does anyone know of a way to take photos through glass without getting a reflection through the glass. I think I would have got some good photos the other day but lots of them came back with my reflection e.g

wild dog by paul garvie, on Flickr

I held the lens up close to the glass so the focus was on the dog and I got none of the window just a reflection of me
cheers

the kid
 
Polarising filters help, but the best way to to exclude light from around you getting between the lens & the glass. Get right up to the glass & cup a hand around the lens to block out light.
 
There are a few ways to minimise (or even prevent) reflections and to get the perfect shot of a subject through glass - but they require full control of the lighting either side of the glass and perfectly clean glass. You need it considerably darker outside the glass than inside, and minimal light from inside the glass being directed outside. It's very rare that you find the perfect conditions when photographing exhibits in a museum, although the Tower of London is an example I can think of where the conditions are more suitable than most.

In general, if it's a brightly lit museum you can get a decent record shot of an exhibit but there's no practical way to get a technically perfect one. Don't worry about it. Get the record shots you want and keep any eye out for something interesting that's more achievable. A deep rubber lens hood might help if you can press it to the glass, but I've never found polarising filters to be useful shooting through glass.
 
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Glass will always reflect what "it sees"!

If you are in the light, you will be seen. I always make sure that I
wear dark clothes and I even have a black 2x2 meter fabric in the
tool case… with which I will cover myself and only let the lens out.
This will take care of your own reflection but not those in the room.
 
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I think this is more a case of not thinking out the angle of attack and the use of to short a focal length ,I have a bird feeder station set up around 3-4 mtrs outside my living room windows and taken many shots through the glass ,the latest in fact this morning , try not to angle the lens to much ,use a long lens hood ,get as close as possible to the window ,and as I said a long reach of over 300mm should also help .as with everything photographic these days practise makes perfect
 
Alastair said:
There are a few ways to minimise (or even prevent) reflections and to get the perfect shot of a subject through glass - but they require full control of the lighting either side of the glass and perfectly clean glass. You need it considerably darker outside the glass than inside, and minimal light from inside the glass being directed outside. It's very rare that you find the perfect conditions when photographing exhibits in a museum, although the Tower of London is an example I can think of where the conditions are more suitable than most.

In general, if it's a brightly lit museum you can get a decent record shot of an exhibit but there's no practical way to get a technically perfect one. Don't worry about it. Get the record shots you want and keep any eye out for something interesting that's more achievable. A deep rubber lens hood might help if you can press it to the glass, but I've never found polarising filters to be useful shooting through glass.
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It's my understanding that polarisers only work to reduce reflections when photographing at an angle to the glass, not straight on.
 
AlanH said:
It's my understanding that polarisers only work to reduce reflections when photographing at an angle to the glass, not straight on.
Click to expand...

Yes, 30-40 degrees to the surface - Brewster's Angle. Within that range, reflections will be pretty much completely removed; beyond it, the effect is zero.
 
AlanH said:
It's my understanding that polarisers only work to reduce reflections when photographing at an angle to the glass, not straight on.
Click to expand...


+1
 
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