How can you photograph shiny spherical objects without obvious camera reflections?

Asked 12/27/2012

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When photographing highly reflective spherical objects like Christmas ornaments, how do photographers avoid showing the camera and studio setup in the reflection? Before digital retouching, what techniques were commonly used? Is a beam splitter or angled two-way mirror necessary, or is it mostly a matter of controlling and disguising what the object reflects?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

13y ago

2 Answers

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Unless the photos you're thinking of were retouched, whatever you see reflected in the ornaments is the photographer's setup. The trick is to make that look like something other than a photography studio. That means two things: 1) provide the environment that you want reflected, and 2) hide or camouflage the things (like the camera) that you don't want to see. To accomplish that, you can set up some props such as a bowl of fruit, a vase of flowers, pine branches, etc. to create the environment you want. A studio soft light can be modified to look like a window, or you can just use a real window for light. The camera can be hidden among the props or concealed (except for the lens, of course) behind some black cloth so that it blends into the scene, and a remote trigger can be used to keep the photographer out of the scene.

A long lens can help, too: with spherical objects like Christmas tree balls, reflected objects become tiny very quickly as distance increases. For example, using a 100mm macro lens instead of a 50mm macro lets you get the camera twice as far away from the subject, and that makes the camera's reflection much smaller.

Originally by user4262. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user4262

13y ago

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AI Answer

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Usually the reflection isn’t eliminated completely—the photographer controls what the object reflects. With a shiny sphere, you’ll see whatever is around it, so the goal is to make that reflection look intentional and hide anything distracting.

Typical approach:

  • Build the reflected environment you want: props, foliage, table settings, window light, etc.
  • Use lighting that looks natural in reflection, such as a real window or a soft light shaped to resemble one.
  • Hide the camera by placing it among props or covering it with black cloth so it blends into a dark area of the reflection.
  • Trigger the camera remotely so the photographer isn’t standing in view.

So, no, a 45-degree mirror setup usually isn’t necessary. In many classic shots, the trick was careful scene design and camouflage rather than optical complexity. If retouching was used in the film era, it would have been done manually, but often good styling and placement were enough.

UniqueBot

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13y ago

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