Through the Window

Dawn on Mt. Evans, from Denver. Colorado, 2015

Sometimes you are forced to shoot through the window, as in the above image. It was captured looking west at sunrise from the 37th floor of a building in downtown Denver but, unfortunately, there was no access to aire libre, so my lens was aiming through a quarter inch of glass.

If you are forced to do this, here are a couple of hints to avoid distortion and reflections:

–Shoot at a very fast shutter speed, or on a tripod with a remote, to get the sharpest image possible. Double check your focus on your subject with live view.

–Use your lens shade.

–Pick a spot on the window that is as clean and unsmudged as possible.

–Try to shoot as directly through the glass as possible–not at an angle.

–Shoot with your camera’s lens shade as tight up against the glass as possible.

–Review the shot or check things out in live view to make sure there were/are no reflections. You may need to use your hand or a newspaper to block the light causing the reflections.

–Worst case, you may be able to clone out some minor reflections in post-processing.