Lighting people wearing glasses
 

What works for lighting people who are wearing glasses in simple lighting setups? I seem to always get light flares in the glasses unless I use large reflectors or light sources.

One quick trick is to get the people to tilt their glasses forward a little bit. This basically "keystones" the lenses and can help cut out glare. It usually looks fine for the camera, but may feel a little weird to the person.

One could also try using a polarizing lens in combination with a little bit of head positioning as suggested in the first reply.

rj

Type of polarizing filter for digital video?
 

Do you use a circular or regular polarizing filter or is there a difference for video?

I use circular and it works OK until the actor moves into a position that negates the polar position of the filter. Then I get to re-block the scene to account for that.

Move your key light--which should probably be a softbox--above their eye level and off to one side till it disappears.

Wayne Orr, SOC

One idea, though it doesn't help people who already have glasses, is that the glazed members of the lighting team buy their glasses with anti-glare/anti-reflective coatings. I believe nearly all lenses are available this way.

It sometimes helps to lower the tripod slightly from where you normally place it for an interview and shoot with the camera tilted up ever so slightly toward the face of the person with glasses -- the idea being that the slight angle will miss the reflections altogether.

This is, in effect, tilting the camera instead of the glasses (as mentioned above).

Try the suggestions here:

http://www.greatdv.com/lighting/glasses.htm

BTW, you should use a regular polarizing filter for video. Circular serves a specific purpose for SLRs.

Hey there,

My humble suggestion would be to set your lights at a 90 degree angle from the subject. When I had to shoot framed art or someone with glasses I always positioned my lights as perpendicular to the subject as possible. This will eliminate most of the light reflection off of the eyeglasses.

Nose and glasses shadows can then become a problem however. If you can
fill with a front directed soft-box set way ABOVE the camera's line of sight you might be able to wash out those pesky shadows altogether.

Good luck,

Stephanie