First Surface Mirrors
The secret of product photography that sells
Photography is everywhere, we see it everywhere we go. Whether it’s on a billboard, commercial’s, fast food venues, and so much more. Photography consumes us, and we don’t even realize it. Next time you go to the store, look around and see all the photography you are seeing.
When it comes to photography, there are many different types and styles of photography. What is within the frame of the lenses, that is your style of photography. The type of photography you see the most is Product Photography. The product photo is what persuades your customers to buy your product.
According to the Coconut product photography, “Product photography is a form of commercial photography that has the goal of presenting a product in the best possible photographic representation. Great photography takes into careful consideration the tools of proper light, background materials, sharp camera focus with proper depth of field, advantageous camera angles and careful editing”.
One of my favorite types of photography is mirror product photography. This is done by using optical glass to create one of a kind effects without photo shop. For this effect, you can use any type of mirror, but my favorite is a First Surface Mirror. Why, you might ask?
A first surface mirror gives the best reflection of your product. As well as the image that you are capturing with your camera. A normal mirror has a ghosting effect, and has a gap between the reflection and object on the glass. While a First Surface Mirror has no ghosting, and no gap between your object and the glass. It gives the product the best reflection quality.
Glass or Acrylic
Before we get started into the photography part, I will need to cover whether you will need glass or acrylic. First surface mirrors come in both glass, and acrylic. This is super convenient when you are worried about the breaking of the glass. Even scratching your mirror surface.
The glass version of the first surface mirror will always be a higher quality than the glass. This is because the coating on the glass is flatter than the acrylic. This makes a huge difference, but when using it for this purpose, either application will work.
The acrylic mirror tends to bend in larger sizes. It will have small imperfections on the first surface as well. If you are on a budget, this is great for you as the small imperfections can be photoshopped. The glass option is much easier to clean and maintain than the acrylic.
First Surface Mirrors are used in a lot of product photography. The surface of the mirror gives a polished, slick feel to the image when your product is on the surface.
The image below is a standard mirror, as you can tell there is a space between the finger and the glass. This is due to the mirror coating on the backside of the mirror.
This image is the Glass First Surface mirror. You can notice that the reflection is touching, as if there is no glass. This is due to the reflective coating being located on the top of the mirror.
These mirrors are great for beginners, pros, and intermediates. You can experiment with this to find your perfect photography style.
Where to start?
The set up is the first key to creating this effect. First, place your product on the mirror side. You will want to be sure that you have a mirror large enough to capture the product. You wouldn’t want anything else in the reflection.
One of the first things I did was construct an area with three walls. You can use any color for this, I preferred white but any color will be fine. White is the best though, as it helps bounce the light off. You can head to the dollar store and pick some poster board up or look on Amazon for this!
For the lighting, I used two continuous lights to help brighten and spread the light. I also used this handy Neewer TT650 Flash Speedlite. This bounces the lighting back to create some more dramatic lighting.
While adjusting my settings, I wanted to meter for completely even light. This would help with the editing process in Photoshop. This is if nothing was over or underexposed with lighting.
Non reversing mirror photo shoot
Many people haven’t heard of the True Mirror. Although it is very common among artists, displays, nail salons and more. To create this, you can use two first surface mirrors and join them at a 45 degree angel. This creates a non reversed reflection. This can bring your photography to a whole new level. With using the different sides and dimensions of your product. Like this:
This type of photography is great for capturing many reflections. While making it appear like you have more than one product.
Protecting equipment and shooting further away
Then you’re going to need a clear, crispy and accurate reflection. The flatter the mirror is, the less warping the camera will pick up from the mirror coating.
This glass has been used in many scientific experiments. While also great for capturing wildlife. A neat Natural Geographic photographers secret. When you can’t safely get close enough to the subject, having a glass first mirror is a life-saver. Also maneuvering the mirrors to capture different angles leads towards better photography. You normally wouldn't be able to capture otherwise without this mirror.
Have you ever heard of a Right Angle Spy Lens? This lens attachment has the optical glass front surface mirror within it at a 45-degree angle. Now you can capture candid photography. A great concept, especially for wedding photographers with shy or annoyed guests.
Using a Beamsplitter mirror for Pepper’s Ghost and other camera effects
A beamsplitterr mirror, AKA a teleprompter mirror, allows you to record through it. Giving you a flawless tint free picture quality. While providing a crisp forty percent on the front side of the glass.
You may have seen this optical mirror in HUD displays, 3D camera rigs, smart mirrors, hidden televisions, holograms and many more. Beamsplitter mirror have been used in film production as early as the 1950’s. But they have been used in theatre since 1862! A more famous effect you may recognize includes the resurrected Tupac Shakur hologram performance. Same concept as the pepper’s ghost but on a much larger scale.
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Originally published at https://www.twowaymirrors.com on September 14, 2018.
