glasses reflection

[John Sharaf]

This is a problem that dogs everyone! It comes down to the actual eyeglasses in question; some, noatble those I call “goggles” that are large and convex are almost impossible to keep the reflections out off, others are easier.

The methods to use are to move the light to the side (sometimes necessitating the addition of a fill light), move the light closer or alternately raising the camera (or all of the above).

Let’s see what others suggest, I’m always looking for new tricks!

JS

[Ruby Gold]

Thanks a lot for the tips! I look forward to more, as well.
Ruby

[Ken Zukin]

Well I think John hit most of them, but I always ask if they “need” to wear them – you’d be surprised how often people will remove their glasses once I explain about reflections. I’ve also used the trick of raising the glasses’ temples above their ears an inch or so – sometimes it’s enough to change the angle & eliminate the reflections.

One other trick I haven’t yet tried is to cut some wide strips of black tape and apply to your chimera-type source – this produces a window-frame-like reflection in the eyeglasses which supposedly looks more natural.

[Ruby Gold]

Thanks Ken. Yeah, I always ask if they’d be willing to take them off, and with this particular guy, he really wasn’t comfortable and I thought it wd throw off the interview. But, thanks for the tips–I appreciate them!
Ruby

[Sydneys]

Something that really works is, I ask them to tilt the lens down as much as possible, while making sure it doesn’t look out of place… This, when combined with proper light placement, really helps…