How to stop reflection of sky in car paint

IanBestPhot

IanBestPhot

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Hi guys, I have been shooting cars recently using a CPL filter but still cant seem to stop the reflection of the sky/clouds in the paintwork, is there any particular method either in camera or post that I can use to remove? I have tried in post but its v difficult.

Thanks in advance

Ian
 
The obvious answer without trying to be flippant is to make sure the car is in a position where the sky can't be reflected in the paintwork. Maybe taking them in shade as in under trees would be the answer. Another possibility is in a town where tall buildings block out any sky reflection



Any shiny paintwork is going to reflect something , the trick is what is it going to reflect which is acceptable to you

Realspeed
 
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What he said.
Basically, you can't shoot a car in the street and expect it to look like it was shot in a studio.

Show us a shot of yours and an example of what you'd like it to look like.
 
Okay, this is a shot I took of a friends polo.

The bonnet is okay but the side as you can see has alot of clouds etc in it.



I cant seem to find the picture I was looking at before, but I think the reflections on the side look terrible? Is it just me setting the CPL incorrectly or is that inevitable when shooting outside like you said

Thanks again for replies
 
I've found that metalic paints are worse for reflections than "plain" paints - shouldn't be that surprised since CPLs (well, all pols) can't deal with reflections off metal. The pol does cut reflection a bit but not completely.
 
IanBestPhot said:
I cant seem to find the picture I was looking at before, but I think the reflections on the side look terrible? Is it just me setting the CPL incorrectly or is that inevitable when shooting outside like you said
Click to expand...

CPL is not blocking reflection its polarising light. The reflection block or the opposite, enhancement happens when you change polarising direction by turning the filter. Since your subject is quite curvy, I don't think polariser will cover it all simply because reflections polarisation usually changes with the angle at which you look at it (see this Wikipedia article for the picture where it refers to Brewster's angle and Fresnel equations). You will have to find the best balance between your position in respect to the car and polariser adjustment.
 
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A polariser might help, but only in a limited way.

The angle for reflections is between 30-40 degrees to the surface (Brewsters Angle) and it works just as well on cars, metallic paint or not, as the actual reflective surface is not metal.

Polarisers cut polarised light (they do not 'enhance' unpolarised light) and at the correct angle to the subject and correct angle of rotation on the filter, reflections will disappear completely. But if you are able to cut reflections down the side of a car, reflections at 90 degrees to that eg bonnet/roof, will be unchanged - and vice versa.

You may also get undesirable side effects, such as patterns in toughened glass used for side windows.
 
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The simple answer being back to - if you want to control reflections, you really have to take control.

ie. you can't expect to photograph cars on the street in a random selection of weather conditions and produce clean results.

A tip I read once to help with 'control' is to cut a double sheet in half and fasten it back together lengthways, attach it to poles (think a long low beach windbreak) which can be used to control the side reflections, but it's something to be used in relatively controlled conditions.

I know you're hung up about the sky, but in the example you posted, the fence reflected in the side of the car is what spoils it for me.
 
Thanks for all your replies.

It's not so much just the sky its reflections in general and like you mentioned Phil, the fence too.

I'll try the trick with the double sheet and see if that helps, also try shooting a bit later in the day so there isn't as much harsh light which may help?
 
It would help if the background was not the back of an industrial estate, getting rid of the fences, walls etc,. and any reflections would blend in better.

...unless you were going for a gritty industrial shot (which guessing you weren't :) )
 
Was going for that gritty look but not so much with the reflections, I had a quick go at cloning the fence out but couldn't do it to a level where I thought it looked good. Ah well a lesson learnt!
 
IanBestPhot said:
Hi guys, I have been shooting cars recently using a CPL filter but still cant seem to stop the reflection of the sky/clouds in the paintwork, is there any particular method either in camera or post that I can use to remove? I have tried in post but its v difficult.

Thanks in advance

Ian
Click to expand...

depends on the angle of the car to the sun. you'll also only be able to remove reflection on part of the car. I used to shoot two images and combine them.
 
POAH said:
depends on the angle of the car to the sun. you'll also only be able to remove reflection on part of the car. I used to shoot two images and combine them.
Click to expand...

Angle to the sun only matters for darkening blue skies. For reflections only the angle of subject to camera (Brewsters angle, 30-40 degrees).

If you're close to something like a car, a polariser will not remove all reflections from the side as the angle changes too much along the length, but moving back so the whole vehicle is within 30-40 degs should fix it.
 
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