Glare from Glass

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by iCe

Any chance you could use a diffuser between the subject and the light source?

Hmmm - what do you mean, Michael? When I hear the word "diffuser". I think of the stuff I put on my hot shoe flash to tame the harshness. However, in the case of the photos taken in the lobby, the light source is the entire front of the lobby. I am not using, nor do I need, a flash.

A number of you have suggested I cover up windows and the like - this is the front of the building, and the glass you see is the front of the lobby. As you can see, short of shutting down business while I drape the front of the building, I have to work with what I have.



Teach me, Michael!

[Digital Daddy]

Your B&W's are great! They have character. My only suggestion would be to ditto the long lens solution, so you could maybe shoot from an angle that has less reflections and glare. Frame-up and wait for the right moment, and crop as needed. Good work and good luck with a tough lighting situation.

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by josphy

The B&W shot w/ the long lens is more powerful I think because it focuses on the person and not all the clutter due to the much shallower depth of field.

Thanx for the kudos, Joseph - I too like the portrait shots of the people.

But, this is a series - a documentary, if you will. The clutter is part of life in a nursing home, and that too must be recorded. I could build a good series of head shots, and frankly, that would be easy, but the assignment is much larger than getting portraits.

By the way - I think you mean deeper depth of field.

[gardener]

Although this may be over simplifying the problem, would simply moving to your right (toward the windows) just a couple of feet and shooting more toward the room interior help the glare issue? It seems that might put the natural light, and thus at least some of the reflective surfaces, quartering off your shoulder instead of 90° to the lens surface.

I suck at inside photos so just take the idea for what it's worth...

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by gardener

Although this may be over simplifying the problem, would simply moving to your right (toward the windows) just a couple of feet and shooting more toward the room interior help the glare issue? It seems that might put the natural light, and thus at least some of the reflective surfaces, quartering off your shoulder instead of 90° to the lens surface.

Yep - you have the right idea - I just can't do it. The lobby seems to be a perfect storm of angles that give me reflections. The place is full of glass - there is a phone booth for residents, an office door - even a glass enclosed bird cage! One morning, I spent about an hour placing myself in different places - I even got down on the floor, which brought some laughs from the staff and some quizzical looks from the residents!

The only thing I haven't done yet is shoot at night. Right now, I can't do that as the sun doesn't go down until about 8:30 - - but the residents are all in bed by that time.

Thanx for all the ideas folks - I'll keep you posted if I find a solution.

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by Digital Daddy

Your B&W's are great! They have character. My only suggestion would be to ditto the long lens solution, so you could maybe shoot from an angle that has less reflections and glare. Frame-up and wait for the right moment, and crop as needed. Good work and good luck with a tough lighting situation.

Hi Barry - and thanx.

I can do some long lens shots, but as I explained to Joseph, I need to capture more than head shots.

For instance, this is lunch at the home - and in order to convey "eating", I must show a person eating and the environment surrounding her. Its not as dramatic a shot as the others, but necessary.



By the way - this wasn't shot in the lobby, obviously.

[bondarnes]

I may be totally off base here, but I don't have a problem with the reflections in the glass. That is part of the ambiance of this location and to me it is not a distraction. If it is really an issue for you I would suggest using a couple of 4X8 black foamcore flats to stand against the windows causing the reflections and still have enough light coming from the uncovered windows.

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

I may be totally off base here, but I don't have a problem with the reflections in the glass. That is part of the ambiance of this location and to me it is not a distraction.

Really? Don, I respect your work a lot. You have some of the best work on the TPF.

You really don't have a problem with the glare? How about the rest of you? Am I worrying about something that isn't really a problem?

Thanx for that insight, Don!

[adirty1]

If its day in life kind of thing or editorial than no there is nothing wrong with glare. we when shot big groups of people and you had to do the retouching by hand we would have the people with glasses just move them down a little on their nose thus changing the angle of reflection and helping out with the glare. this wouldnt kill all the glare but at least you could see the eyes more and then the retoucher would fix them. Your trying to capture the time and feeling and that glare is part of it. looking out into the world from an enclosed space kind of thing.

[gardener]

While I'd love to see the glare on the eyeglasses go away, the rest of the glaring surfaces don't really bother me either although I didn't think that was your original query...
In some instances, the location is what it is and if that includes some glare or other non-removable problem areas, I'm usually so fixated on the main subject that I don't notice the oddities away from that subject. Sure, we'd all like locations to be perfect in both light and substance but truthfully, that's probably pretty rare unless you can be there at a chosen location at the exact minute or even second that everything comes together for a split instance.
As another option, you might also try shooting on a cloudy day if you ever get those in McAllen...

In some fashion though, remember that you're pretty lucky to be able to take pics at all as many nursing/senior homes don't allow it because of privacy, permissions, or other concerns for the balance of residents that may not be family members. YOUR family member yes, but not pics that may show other residents as part of the scene.