Photographing glass objects is one of the most challenging areas of modern photography. This requires not only certain professional skills, but also expensive equipment. But if you wish, you can save on props by making it from scrap materials.
Props for shooting
In order for glass objects to appear well in the photo, you need to shoot them in a special studio. You can make this studio with your own hands. To do this, you need the following components:
- light tent;
- thin white cardboard;
- fill light source;
- point light source;
- tripod;
- 2 reflectors;
- a sheet of black cardboard.
Before photographing glass objects, they must be cleaned of dust and dirt, and in some cases treated with a special polish.
Lighting installation
Spread out the light tent, cover the back and bottom walls with a sheet of white cardboard so that it forms a uniform tone. Position the fill light so that it illuminates the scene from above, this will help define the contours of the photographed subject. Place the spotlight to the left of the tent. To diffuse harsh light a little, use white parchment, such as baking paper. Plain paper in this case will be useless, because it is not translucent.
Reflectors can be made from ordinary thick cardboard by gluing reflective foil onto it. In size, each reflector should be at least 2 times the size of the photographed object. In the lower part of the reflector, make a slot about 5 cm long, bend one of the resulting legs forward, the second back. Place the reflectors to the left and right behind the subject so that they form a near-right angle. By reflecting light, they will help to lighten the contours of the glass object, to separate it from the white background.
Fingerprints, invisible to the naked eye, are quite capable of showing up on the photographed glass in the form of untidy spots. Therefore, shooting is best done with thin thread gloves.
The last item on the list is a sheet of black cardboard. Its role is simple and obvious - to serve as a kind of screen between the room and the subject. Otherwise, everything that surrounds it will be reflected in the glass, as in a mirror.
Choosing photography options
The only thing left to do is to directly photograph a glass object, such as a glass. Finding the right shutter speed and aperture setting can be the hardest part for a beginner. An overexposed photo will turn out to be too light, an underexposed one will fall into darkness.
In order not to suffer with the selection of the correct exposure, use the semi-automatic mode, which is present in most modern cameras. Choose, for example, aperture priority, and the camera itself will calculate the shutter speed required for the picture. Do not forget to turn off the flash before shooting, the glare from it can ruin the whole picture. All of the above tips are also suitable for photographing jewelry, transparent vessels of water, and other reflective objects.
