In this article, we’ll be showing you how to get some extraordinary lighting effects using a few ordinary items. The trick lies in harnessing reflections and refraction from shiny and translucent items. For example we’ve used things like a glass ornament and an ordinary CD. Learn how to impressively light portraits and more and get an original play of lights and colors into your photos.

Taking pictures through glass is popular for e.g. lifestyle portraits. Your photo ends up with impressive glints and reflections of objects on the street, and you get an interesting view of your model. This time around, we’ll be covering a somewhat unusual approach—we’ll be showing you how to take impressive portraits through dew-covered glass in a home environment. You hardly need any extra items for this approach, and you’ll simply love the portraits it gives you! 

Glass—a photographer’s worst enemy. It’s usually best to just avoid it. But what if you want to immortalize your favorite fish in an aquarium? Or photograph your brother with a tiger behind glass at the zoo? There are loads of situations like this.

Glass is a unique material that presents a major challenge for photographers. That’s because glass adds reflections to a photo, and these are usually unwanted. But there are also situations where reflections can be put to good use.

Sheets of glass, including shop windows and room windows, are very interesting objects. They’re also frequent photographic subjects. Glass reflects part of the light while letting the rest shine through. Every angle feels different, and many angles are quite original. There’s nothing new about taking pictures through glass; people have been doing it for many years, and meanwhile photos with reflections are still much-loved today.