I am trying to photograph my coin sets. The coins are encased in a postcard-sized glossy paper that acts as mirror.
I need to position my camera exactly on top of the card coin set. Unfortunately, when I do this, my reflection is seen on the glossy paper and also get captured in the image. The reflection vanishes if I move the camera too close to the card, but then I need a lens with a closer focal point.
What is the suggested way to take pictures of a glossy surface, avoiding the reflection on the surface?
Answer
The coin reflects light. With a light shining straight on it, much of it may be reflected straight back at the camera:
The first thing to do is move the light to the side and put a dark object where it used to be. The dark object is now reflected in the coin, but that's not noticeable:
There are still many specular highlights on the relief and lettering, reflections of the light and of other bright objects in the vicinity. Minimize those by surrounding yourself with a flat, black environment. This last photo was taken from above with a black cloth draped over photographer and camera:
(All three images are of the same coin. Some noise reduction was applied, but no contrast enhancement was performed in any of them. The softness in this last image is because there was much less light to illuminate the coin: because these images were handheld, this required a high ISO and large aperture. For good work you will use a tripod, of course, allowing a smaller aperture and low ISO, because a long exposure is no problem.)
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