By James Booth
Jane Conner-ziser's article "Correcting eyeglass glare" in the July 2006 issue of Connected Photographer brought to mind a tip I have yet to share with our readers. There's no question Jane provided excellent instructions, but what if the budding photographer doesn't have Photoshop? Or any way to get their images into Photoshop?
In this article, I'll provide a very simple technique any photographer can use with any camera, from the cheapest throwaway to the most expensive professional model, that will instantly eliminate lens glare at its source. And you don't need any fancy equipment or special lighting.
Eyeglass lens glare, like in Figure A, is caused by your light source either being at the same level as the lenses, light impacting them at an angle too close to perpendicular, or both.
FIGURE A
The dreaded lens glare. (click for larger image)
Studio lights can be raised or moved closer to the subject to eliminate glare, but this may not always be possible.
There is one simple method that can work anywhere, any time. And that is to change the angle of the glasses in relation to the camera. By tipping the glasses forward just slightly, as shown in Figure B, it alters the plane between the glasses, camera, and lighting to remove the glare.
FIGURE B
Tip the glasses down to remove the glare. (click for larger image)
As you can see in the photo above, the bows/earpieces of the glasses are raised above where they would normally sit, angling the glasses toward the floor. It doesn't take much, and works every time.
In the next photo, nothing has changed from Figure A except the positioning of the glasses. And as you can see, Figure C shows no lens glare.
FIGURE C
No dreaded lens glare. (click for larger image)
There's no need for fancy software or specialized equipment if you want to eliminate eyeglass lens glare. The simple trick of angling the subject's glasses forward will remove the offending glare. Good luck and good shooting.
