Using Flash to Control Reflections When Shooting Through Glass

A few months back, I posted a video and write up describing a handful of techniques that I employ in order to effectively shoot a space that is behind glass without distracting reflections that distract from the design beyond. This video shows a recent example of one of these images from a project we shot with Perkins + Will of an office space in Dallas. This particular space featured a soft seating area in front of a large graphic wall. To add to the difficulty of capturing the space and how it sits within the larger context, the enclosing glazing features a film with a grid pattern which proved challenging when attempting to figure out how best to show the detail of the it, the wall graphic and some models using the room.

By dividing the room into two halves when determining how to light it, we are able to recreate the practical lighting that exists within it, giving a pleasing and natural quality of light. This lighting technique in conjunction with fast shutter speeds allows us to remove the majority of reflections from the camera side of the glass, however we did encounter some harsh reflections in the left hand chair from our strobes bouncing off of the white frames in the left of the frame, leading us to have to flag off those frames using black cloth.

Once lighting was complete, all that was left to do in post was to composite the information together and do some color corrections to end up with the below result.

Piecing Together a Complex Multi-Layered Interior Space

In workplace design, there are some spaces that are just inherently difficult to capture cleanly no matter how you approach them. That was the case with this space at the Khoros office designed by Austin’s Urban Foundry Architecture, where they created a dynamic work environment with multiple breakout and collaboration spaces mixed in with the workstations themselves. These spaces were given separation through the implementation of screen walls which help visibly and physically divide the functions, but while doing so, make a particular challenge for us photographers. To add to the challenge, this shot in particular was created towards the end of a very full day of interiors, which led to our pushing through the photography as quickly and efficiently as possible. After coming up with a comfortable way of arranging the existing furnishings to our selected composition, we proceeded to capture a variety of flash frames attempting to isolate varying sections of the space in a way that made sense to me when thinking down the line of how I would approach the compositing in post-production. This led to thinking of the space as a foreground, divided into two - left and right, a middle ground, and the remaining background information. The lighting within the space was very challenging, so choosing to light the majority of the two nearer spaces with supplemental lighting was a no brainer, but the nature of the screen walls meant that this would be quite the challenge once back to the computer.

In this video, you will see as I struggle through piecing all of these sections together to create a clear image that describes the spaces and their connections well.

Balancing the Lighting Behind a Translucent Wall Installation in Post-Production

Some of the spaces that we are tasked with showcasing as architectural photographers are inherently trickier than others. During a recent shoot of a very thoughtfully designed children’s museum in Corpus Christi by Page, one of these spaces was a waiting area outside of the hospitals PICU. The waiting area features a translucent wall with an installation on it which separates the area from an adjoining corridor to allow for some privacy. Walls like this make a major impact on a space, but can be particularly challenging to photograph accurately for a variety of reasons, so we had our work cut out for us. Opposite the corridor from this glass wall is another large window that looks down on a lightwell/atrium connected to the hospital’s main concourse which further complicated any attempt at getting a clean backlit shot of the entire wall in one image. As a result, we wound up taking a series of shots where we backlit the wall in sections in order to clearly see the wall itself free from reflections and color contamination from within the space that we were shooting.

This video shows the entire post-production in Photoshop as I assembled several frames to end up with the final result - a clean, straight forward image of this colorful yet calming space. Throughout the first half of the video, you’ll see as I concentrate on this installation feature specifically, piecing together a final result that shows it evenly lit and without distraction. This was achieved by using a number of techniques from compiling those backlit flash frames mentioned above as well as creating adjustment layers to make local adjustments in areas where there was inconsistent lighting due to the constraints we were dealing with on the opposite side of the glass.

Finally, the image really comes together when we finish it off by incorporating life into the scene using a family seated in the waiting area in the foreground and a doctor at the elevator bank - all of which couldn’t have happened without the thoughtful planning and participation from the design team and end users!