How to handle glass photos and animations?

In photography, one of the trickiest objects to photograph is glass. This is so because of its transparency and translucency. Transparent materials are clear and are see-through which allow light to pass through them while translucent materials also allow light to pass through them but diffusely. One factor which makes glass photography difficult is its shiny reflective surface. We will come back to this later in this article.

Various objects such as eyeglasses, mugs, jewelry, plates, sunglasses, toys among others contain elements of glasses and their photography is somehow quite tricky to produce if you do not have the required expertise. Generally, a higher aperture should be used in order to have a clear focus. Refer to our article “How to handle depth of field” to know more on aperture.

This article will provide you with tips and advices in relation to glass photography and glass animations.

What you should know:

• Artificial lights
• Cast Shadows
• Reflections
• Motion Blur

Artificial lights

Flash lights are artificial lights created by some cameras which help illuminate a subject. Flash light generally have a color temperature of about 5500k. However, when a photo of a glass is taken with the flash light on, the flash light will reflect on the glass thus affecting the beauty of the object. A great deal of experience is needed to manipulate flash lights effectively.

Continuous lightings are lightings which are continuously on in order to illuminate an object. These lightings should be properly dozed so as not to over light or under light a subject. There can be several types of artificial lightings such as photo flood lights, HMI lights, cold lights, continuous uniform lightings among others. With the continuous lighting (6500k), natural and aesthetic renderings are easily obtained.
Cast shadows

Founded in 2001, PackshotCreator develops and markets several lines of visual studios for businesses. These solutions can create an infinite number of product photos of professional quality, 360° animations and 3D photos.