Last week I got together with Joanna and Jan from The Antiqued Mirror Company to photograph their new collection of mirrors and furniture. The company is based in Wales, they were exhibiting their work in London and wanted to photograph the mirrors in-situe at a private mansion based in Sandwich.

The project although looks straight forward was rather complicated, the easiest way to photograph these mirrors would be side on and using the natural reflections from around the room. However these mirrors needed to be photographed straight on so could be cropped square for e-commerce as well as the ability to be used in a brochure so a set and negative space was needed. The natural background was a large window, similar in style to the one you see above; the pattern of the window interfered with the texture of the glass and therefore meant a new background would need to be inserted post production whilst retaining the glass texture and loosing the reflection of the camera. The last thing to consider was that different lighting positions may need to be taken to emphasise the pattern of the frame and create the depth needed, the best lighting to show  the pattern of the mirror and finally the best lighting for the whole room.

The final files were supplied in 3 crops, full un-cropped for use with Graphic Design, Square Cropped Scenic for use in social media such as Instagram and finally a close up square crop so that the detail of the frame and mirror can be seen for e-commerce.

Do you have a project with reflective surfaces that is complicated to light? If so get in touch and let’s work out the best solution for you. If you liked this project please hit the social media share buttons at the bottom of this blog.

With thanks to Joanna and Jan for bringing their collection along, Fran for helping with the styling and Dean for being the perfect assistant.