How can I avoid glare and eye distortion when photographing people wearing glasses?
Asked 1/12/2011
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2 answers
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I often photograph family members candidly, and both of my parents wear glasses. In many otherwise good photos, reflections on the lenses hide their eyes, or the glasses seem to distort them. Asking them to remove their glasses usually isn’t practical. What techniques can help reduce glare and keep the eyes visible when photographing people who wear glasses?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
12
Posting some examples will help us identify your problem, but if you're getting distortion because they're wearing very thick, corrective glasses - there's not alot you're going to be able to do.
If you're getting odd angles of reflected light, either change the angle of the light by moving the flash or tilting the subject's head.
Obviously you can also move the camera itself. Its about changing that angle that the light is reflecting off the glasses into the lens.
The strobist has an excellent article here: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/04/lighting-101-lighting-for-glasses.html
Here's an example of changing the head's angle to avoid odd reflections from glasses:
Here's an example of changing the light source (bounced off the ceiling here) angle:
Doing candid shots means this is obviously much harder, you'll have to be distinctly aware of the angle of the light and your subject. It can be done, it just means putting a little more time into the shot when you have it.
Originally by user1917. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1917
15y ago
0
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The main fix is to change the angle between the glasses, the light, and the camera so reflections don’t bounce straight into the lens.
Helpful techniques:
- Move yourself or the camera slightly higher, lower, or to one side.
- Ask the subject to tilt their head a little.
- If possible, change the light angle: move the flash, bounce it, or avoid direct on-axis light.
- For strong ambient light, move into open shade or a well shaded area to reduce harsh reflections.
- As a subtle trick, the subject can slightly tilt the glasses by lifting the arms off the ears a bit; even a small change can remove glare and usually won’t show in the photo.
If the glasses have very strong corrective lenses, some apparent eye distortion may be unavoidable, since that comes from the lenses themselves rather than reflections. In that case, your best option is simply to find the most flattering angle and lighting.
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