Glass hunh? You just had to make it easy didn’t you? But really, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to think through.

Before I get into any technical description, I’ll talk in some general terms. First off, let’s just think about the nature of glass, it is either translucent (light is translated through it) or transparent (you see through it) if not both and reflects light unless it has been sandblasted or some such. All of things complicate the problem of photographing it (order custom iron on sticker), but will end up being assets if we think about it enough. one thing about glass is it looks better when isolated on a field of black or white. White has a way of abstracting its form and black will make it stand out or “pop.” Just do a Google image search for “glass sculpture” and you’ll see endless examples of what I’m talking about. The next thing to consider is its reflective quality. Take a wine glass for example, empty, it will brobably be reflecting light sources and big white surfaces, but fill it with a dark liquid it will reflect much more. By filling it we cut down on its transparency and add to its reflective quality – think of it like a balancing act. and finally let’s look at the translucent qualities of glass. Take one of your lights and point it at the object, then light it from behind – it will change character drastically.

I know I’m being long-winded here, but this is how good lighting and arresting images are constructed – by looking, playing and thinking.

Now for the practical stuff.

You have a camera, table and two lights. Great, basically you’re set, but let’s add just a few things to that list that will make your life easier.

A tripod. This is the product photographers friend. You’ll be making subtle changes and tweaks to get it “just right” and having the camera move around will confuse this process.

The next thing I’d add to that list is lots of super-cheep black fabric. this is for the space all around the space you are setting up to make photos (think “black box”), you are trying to control the reflections, if it is reflecting something it should only be because you want it to be there and added it yourself. You should also be in a black shirt, your camera should be black (just use tape if it’s not) and etc… Do this even if you decide you want a white background and tabletop.

As for this “frame” you are making, I assume you are thinking of that as a backdrop. Yes? What I do, is pin, clamp, whatever… one edge of my backdrop material to a wall or ceiling and let it drape down in a gentle slop onto my shooting surface. Just tape it or clamp it to the front edge of the table. Beware of wrinkles unless you will just clean them up in photoshop. a smooth curve will create what is called a “seamless” backdrop.

Other than that, have some white cards, alumium foil, a house plant, your cat, it really dosent matter. Play with these things to see how they reflect off the glass. a big white card will add a big white reflection, you’ll see.

Some more costly items that you could use are polarizing filters, they make them for camera lenses (glass) and for light sources (gels). Like I said, they are pricey, but will give you a much greater degree of control over your (reflective) image making.

For flat glass try and light it evenly from 45deg angles from the plane and have your camera pointing directly at it. with all black behind the camera. This is more classical copy-camera style, but I’m sure if you play with it a bit you’ll get more unique results.

One last word of advice, play, have fun make it sexy, but remember to keep it consistent. Once you find the “look” you like, do the entire body of work that way. Consistent results = professional looking. I’m not saying you should never mix it up, but in a small body of work you should try and keep the aesthetic as tight as possible and let the differences between the individual pieces be the defining element of variety.

Good luck,