Photographing Through Glass Without Unwanted Reflections

Photographing through a pane of glass — an aquarium, a plane window, a museum display case — adds a very particular challenge : the glass itself reflects ambient light and often overlays itself on the very subject you’re trying to capture, spoiling an otherwise successful shot.

Pressing the lens right up against the glass

Bringing the lens as close as possible to the glass surface, ideally touching it, removes most of the reflections coming from the space between the lens and the glass — a simple rubber lens hood, or even a hand cupped around the lens, blocks the rest of the stray light coming from the side.

Systematically turning off the flash

The flash almost always bounces straight back off the glass, creating a bright patch that hides part of the image — turning off the flash remains the first rule, even if it means raising the ISO to compensate for the lack of light rather than risking that reflection.

The polarising filter, useful but not magic

A polarising filter reduces some of the reflections on glass, provided it’s turned to the right angle relative to the light source — a quick test, rotating the filter in front of your eye, shows the effect immediately before shooting. It remains, however, less effective on glass than on a water surface, and doesn’t replace physically bringing the lens closer.

Clean glass, a detail that changes everything

Glass covered in dust, fingerprints or droplets immediately reveals these imperfections as soon as they fall within the zone of sharp focus — a quick clean before shooting, when possible, avoids a lot of disappointment once you look at the photo full-size.