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Photographing Iridized Glass

Posted by Pat Finney on October 18, 2011 at 8:58am in Jurying for Art Fairs & Craft Shows

I have recently started doing some work with iridized glass.  I've been working in glass for a while now.  I have got photographing regular glass somewhat figured out but iridized glass is a different animal.  Does anybody have any experience in this area and be willing to give me some tips?  I took several pieces to a photographer who is known in this area for photographing art (including glass).  They didn't turn out very good.  He admitted that this was the first time he had tried photographing iridized glass.  I'm stuck.  Any help out there?

 

Pat

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  • Pat Finney October 24, 2011 at 8:12am
    Thanks for the comments.  I'm not sure what I'm talking about either most of the time.  Lot's of people know way more than me about photography.  I have tried my regular photographer without much luck so I'm trying different things to try and get better results.  This iridized glass is new to me.  It's been a learning process all the way around..
    • Larry Berman > Pat Finney October 24, 2011 at 8:23am
      I might have mentioned this before. Remember how good artwork looks when set up in a booth at a show. The canopies that artists use create a great light tent for shooting oversize artwork. It's like shooting inside a very large EZCube or light tent. Put up three white walls and put the fourth wall on the floor to reflect the light back up giving even lighting over the piece.

      Larry Berman
      http://BermanGraphics.com
      412-401-8100
      • Pat Finney > Larry Berman October 24, 2011 at 8:29am
        Hi Larry, thanks.  I'll give it a try.  My Pro Panel walls are dark gray but I'll cover them in white sentra.  When I did the original outdoor shots I just used a single panel with sentra on it but what you say makes sense.  It's supposed to be cloudy here on Wednesday and I'll give it a go.
  • Pat Finney October 22, 2011 at 10:30am
    I just happend to think, you might not realize my problem so I'm posting the original photograph.  It's an ok photo but it doesn't show the properties of the iridizing.
    981289941?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024
    • Melanie Rolfes > Pat Finney October 24, 2011 at 12:14am
      Wow,  I love your work.  I am also very impressed with all of you and what it takes to get a quality image.  I don't even try anymore with my paintings.  I just bring them to a photographer, but this is another level.   I don't really understand what you all are talking about, but it is fascinating to read.
  • Pat Finney October 22, 2011 at 10:13am
    Here's one of the better I've gotten so far.
    981289975?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024
    • Elena Perskova > Pat Finney October 23, 2011 at 10:50pm
      The lighting on this piece is not diffuse enough and is causing washout/glare.   You can get good results by shooting outside and avoiding direct sunlight.  To shoot inside you can construct an inexpensive light tent from some bed sheeting and plastic pipe and light the piece through the sheeting.  There are many articles on the web on how to do this.  If you are willing to send your pieces to a pro that knows how to shoot this then message me here and I will give you the name.
      • Pat Finney > Elena Perskova October 23, 2011 at 11:50pm
        These photos were shot outside.  I do have a 5' photo cube and have played with it trying to get these pictures.  The whole point was to show the iridizing on the glass.  I do understand there are hotspots but this piece is almost 30" across and I don't think I'm going to be able to get rid of all the hot spots due to the size of the piece.  I am going to reshoot the photos (next time we have clouds).  My battle has been getting the properties of the iridizing to show, period.  The photo cube will not do it.  No matter how it diffuse the lights, front light, back light, no light I still can't get the irid to show.  I realize now that outside is the way to go.  This was just the first round of photo's I took.  I hired a professional photographer who specializes in art photography.  He works in the photo department at a nearby university.   He shoots all my glass.  The iridizing threw him a curve.  I am going to reshoot the irid pieces outside and try some different things.  My purpose in posting these photos was to show Ann Marie my progress and explain how I had gotten there.
        • Elena Perskova > Pat Finney October 24, 2011 at 12:14am
          Well, good luck.  Since your comments were intended for someone else I'll say no more.
  • Elena Perskova October 20, 2011 at 11:25am

    Ah, here I can offer some constructive advice as I have photographed successfully these kind of objects before.  If you are using studio strobes then place one on each side of the object and use a softbox of the correct size.  Place a linear polarizer on your lens.  As you shoot you can adjust the polarizer so that it reduces the "hot spots".

    You may still get a few hot spots but it should be manageable enough to edit them out in post processing.

    If you fail to get good results from using studio strobes then you can try shooting the object in daylight.  Cloudy days work great but as long as the sun is not directly shining on the object it will work as well.

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