Dont want a refelction in photo

[tammyowens]

I am doing a project I cant figure out I have tried lots of ideas and still cant get it I want to take a photo of a Christmas Bulb that is very glossy shine every time I take a photo I see a reflection of the lights and the background on the object any ideas how I can eliminate this out totally I don't want to photo shop this. Any help or ideas on this or any input. Thanks

 

[Overread14 2]

Light, Science and Magic - 4th edition. Get a copy of that book (library/buy) and have a read. It will give you a more complete understanding of light, reflections and how to deal with highly reflective surfaces like what you're experiencing.

You might also try using a circular polarizer, this will cut down on reflections, but at the same time the 3D orb shape of the bauble might mean that you can't get the polarizer into a perfect position to cut out all reflections (so you're back at getting your lighting angles right to avoid the problem).

 

[Mike_E]

Paint the back of the bulb with black nail polish.

 

[Big Mike]

In a lighting class that I teach, we use mirrored Christmas (tree ornament) balls, as an example of something that is just about impossible to shoot that way we would want.

Essentially, we need to understand that the ball has properties of 'direct reflection', meaning that it acts like a mirror and reflects light sources as glare or hot sports.
Now, with a flat object that has this property, you can 'hide' the lights by placing them outside the 'family of angles', so that from the camera's position, the reflections are not visible.
The trouble comes when your subject is rounded, because that will mean that your family of angles is essentially everywhere except directly behind the subject. This, in turn, means that you can't hide the lights outside the family of angles...which means that the reflection will show up in the shot.

So with that knowledge, your task then becomes trying to work with that reflection and make it look nice/good/less distracting.

There are several methods. One would be to move your lights far away and/or make them smaller, thus your reflection spots are smaller. You can sometimes place the light or object so that the reflection/glare is hidden in the pattern of the object (doesn't really work with a mirrored ball).

Another thing you can try, is to make the light bigger/closer so that the glare spreads out....sometimes to the point of 'filling the family of angles'.

Sometimes it's about altering the size & shape of your light source, so that the reflection just looks better. For example, most product shots of wine bottles are shot will a tall skinny light, so that the reflection is a vertical line, rather than simply a round or square spot.

One key thing to remember, is that we probably don't want to eliminate the glare entirely....because that glare is what tells the viewer what material the object is made of.

As mentioned above, I highly recommend the book 'Light: Science & Magic".

 

[KmH]

+26 on recommending the product photographers lighting fundamentals bible - Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

A solution is to light what is reflecting, and not light the bulb directly.

Put the bulb inside a white topless tube of semi opaque fabric that has a hole or slit cut in the fabric for the lens front element.
Light the tube from the outside. The more even the lighting the better but the reflections in the bulb will then be the lit white fabric.

 

[BekahAura]

You could try hiding what it's reflecting. If it's reflecting lights turn them off. If you are seeing other objects cover the objects you are seeing with neutral colored sheets (either black or white - try both to see the difference) You are trying to light the most difficult object, reflective and round objects have certainly caused me to rip my hair out on several occasions. We might be able to help you more if you posted the photo you're having problems with.