Comments on: How to Prevent & Edit out Reflections on Glasses

By: Caleb

Caleb — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 18:02:06 +0000

Very nice job on the second one. Good tutorial too, I will have to try this.
Having said that, the first example of the girl with pink glasses is beyond my liking. It looks like her glasses are fogged up.

By: Valerie Farr

Valerie Farr — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:20:12 +0000

I have done the copy the good eye, flip and paste onto the bad eye method before. Sometimes it works really well other times the eyes look cross-eyed. Ha ha!

By: Eric Nelson

Eric Nelson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:33:05 +0000

Great tutorial and information…thanks! Another option that I have used in CS4/5 many times if only one reflection is visible is as follows;

1. Copy the good lens (no reflection)
2. Place on new Layer
3. Flip Horizontally
4. Edit as needed

Watch the eyes when you do this, may need to clone in the catchlights to limit the cross-eye effect.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:41:23 +0000

i have found that trying to get the no-reflection shot in an outdoor lighting situation is impossible. i am a headshot photographer) (99% actor’s headshots) and i do tell my clients to remove the lenses, …but none of them have complied. LOL. i have to resort to an indoor studio shoot for those with glasses…and, well… it’s just not ‘headshot friendly!’
thanks for the article and all the responses – it’s always great to hear what others are doing to get it right

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:51:27 +0000

Great tips, I think I remember someone telling me that they use a polarizing filter in certain situations, especially if the lighting is bright to prevent glare on glasses/sun glasses. Not sure if it’s true or not, I haven’t tired this method yet.

(sorry for the double, I don’t know how I commented on the picture, very odd)

By: Bruce Douglas

Bruce Douglas — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:43:30 +0000

There’s another technique I find very useful with people with strong glass prescriptions where the lenses will reflect everything. This is where you use the trick people use to light wine bottles by putting the light source (usually a large diffusion panel) just barely outside the frame. It reflects in the glasses but the reflection is much softer and transparent so it doesn’t block the eyes.
I use this technique in video, where you don’t have resources to paint out reflections frame by frame and the motion of people’s heads when talking often make them move out of the sweet spot where you can avoid the reflections.

Here is an example by Douglas Kirkland:
http://www.ascmag.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/18_Laszlo-Kovacs-1991.jpeg

By: Tim Emmerton

Tim Emmerton — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:12:09 +0000

Just a thought if you have enough light you could use a circular polariser to get rid of reflections. Just remember you’ll lose around a stop and half of light so watch the shutter speed and if you are in a studio using a flash meter you’ll need to adjust your aperture to compensate. No need to retouch or move the glasses. Hope this helps, Tim Emmerton.

By: Jason Collin Photography

Jason Collin Photography — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:07:22 +0000

Sorry, hit submit too soon….I appreciate the practical tips that do not require software editing to fix glasses reflection problems. I will definitely try the 1/2 down tip next time.

By: Jason Collin Photography

Jason Collin Photography — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:06:07 +0000

In this sideways portrait of a person wearing glasses I just did some basic clone stamping to remove the slight reflection from the off camera strobe (SB-600)

http://jasoncollinphotography.com/blog/2010/5/2/grandmothers-kiss-in-sepia.html

By: Pearle

Pearle — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:31:20 +0000

Thanks for the great advice and tip!