4 Tips For Taking Photos of People Who Wear Glasses
Once you’ve got your camera ready to start photographing, there are a few things you need to know when it comes to photographing someone with glasses. Whether you’re shooting for fun or professionally, spectacles are something that are quite common and you want to make sure the photo comes out right. The wrong flash or angle can leave a funky image inside of the lenses of your subject, thereby destroying your photograph.
You will need to focus on four things when you’ve got a subject with glasses in front of you.
- Flash unit
- Red eye setting
- Camera angle
- Model’s position
Flash Unit
There are a few things you can do with your flash regardless of how fancy your equipment is. Depending upon the lighting, you can turn your flash off completely. If you have a built in flash, the last thing you want is it to be directed right at the eyeglass lens because it will bounce off your glass and create a starburst effect.
If you have an external flash mounted to the camera with a swivel head, you can swivel it right or left to offset the flash. Otherwise you can buy a diffuser. They make diffusers for the pop up flash, too. This will give you the lighting with a softer effect that won’t bounce the light off of the glass.
Red Eye Setting
Using a digital camera, most have a red eye setting that is almost always on. This creates a little red light when you take a photo. You can almost always ignore it, except in the case when your model has glasses on because the red light will show up in the reflection of the glasses. Turning it off will prevent this.
Camera Angle
The angle can mean everything. You don’t want to shoot directly in front of the subject. Offset yourself a little or stand farther away and use your zoom lens. This will make sure that you’re not in the picture. The lens on the eyeglasses will act as a mirror when the flash or any nearby lights are nearby. If you can stand in front of the person and see yourself, then the likelihood of it happening when you take the picture is pretty high.
Move up or down from the subject or do something so that you won’t appear in the picture.
Position The Model
Your subject may need to do a little modeling so that you can get the right shot. Tilting the model’s chin down a little or having them look over their shoulder can provide for a better image altogether. Not only will it help with reflection but it will create a more unique angle instead of so straight forward.
There’s nothing worse than taking a photo of someone only to realize that you’re in the picture, too. Following these steps will make sure that you get only the subject – looking the way they should. When you’ve got a digital camera, use the screen to make sure you have it right. Otherwise, practice makes perfect, just make sure you’ve got a patient model.
Sara Roberts writes for Just Eyewear, a discount eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses online retailer.
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