LIGHT—SCIENCE & MAGIC
White Paper Subject
Hole for Lens
6.20╇ The camera will not reflect in the metal, but the hole in the paper will.
but it does not get rid of it. Although the camera is not visible in the subject, the hole in the light source is. This technique works fine if there is enough irregularity in the metal subject to camouflage the offending reflection. If, for example, the subject is a machine with a complex control panel, reflection may be invisible among the knobs and meters. Whether the light source is a reflector card or a diffusion sheet, we have to be especially careful in lighting the area near the camera. A light aimed at a reflector card can cause flare if the rays fall directly into the lens. Lights projecting through a diffusion sheet can cause a shadow of the camera on the diffusion sheet that reflects visibly in the subject. Photograph the Metal at an Angle
140 Openmirrors.com
Keep the camera as far from the subject as possible to minimize perspective distortion. Then correct the distortion in postproduction. Digitally removing the distortion is not an ideal solution. This sort of image manipulation always results in some quality loss.