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Photographers please WAY off topic!

Posted by lisa11310 (My Page) on
Mon, Aug 9, 10 at 20:24

Hello all, I am on the birding and ponding forums. I know there are many wonderful photographers on GW.
I need to know how to photograph mirrors that have messages written on them with marker. My 18 year old Nephew died last year. He was a wrestler and did weight lifting and other activities that required him to watch his muscle groups working. My Sister put the mirror tiles on his bedroom wall so he could see the exercise and how it was working. They live on the Mississippi river and are tired of the floods every year, they are going to sell the house. All of his friends have written messages on this mirrored wall in his bedroom. It is a plaster wall between his room and the closet, she will try to remove the mirror tiles and replace the wall but she is afraid some may break. She would like to have a few photos of the entire wall and each message. Is there a way to photograph a mirror without the photographer or flash in the photo?


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Photographers please WAY off topic!

I have never done anything like writing but I have photographed people in mirrors where I had to contend with flash and keeping the photographer out of the image.

Ideally I would set my camera on a tripod, increase the ISO as high as I could without creating graininess (noise), then I would shoot at a slow shutter speed and try to do it using available light (without using a flash).

Assuming she does not have the type of cameras I have, I would suggest she shoot from the side to keep the shooter and flash out of the shot. Even so I would expect some flare from the camera's on board flash.

If possible, use an external flash and bounce it off the ceiling. If she has a point and shoot camera and no external flash, I would try to turn off the camera's on board flash and use a flood light, or a work light or bright lamp or similar and again, aim it at the ceiling or position it where the light is best and shadows are minimal.

If there is a window, try to shoot so that the natural light from the window is not reflected in the shot. It will be very distracting. If you must shoot so that the window is visable, draw the blinds or better yet, shoot at night.

Lastly, again assuming she has a digital camera, experiment with a few shots and then go look at them on the computer and go back and adjust the lighting and her position, then shoot some more. Shoot LOTS of shots (50 or more). Hopefully she has a camera with at least 10MP and access to photo editing software because she will no doubt want to crop and edit her best shots.

And if she has attached the mirrors on the wall with those little postage stamp sized two-sided tape, try using dental floss to saw through the tape. And take your time. That stuff is hard to get through but if she tries to pry them off she will probably break more than she doesn't.

Good luck.

Dave


 
 

 

 


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