Hey guys, I was playing around with a few ideas yesterday with a friend who is a jewelry designer. I was using a piece of plexiglass and knew that there was a chance for a double refection, but I didn't realize how much it was going to bug me. (trying to post a pic for reference, but the uploader is struggling with even a 250kb file for some reason)
Any recommendations for plexi, carbon glass, or real glass (type?) that you have had success with?
Reference photo... pretty much straight out of camera (a little color/tonal LR adjustments on import from shooting tethered)
Do you need it to be transparent? If you're fine with an opaque reflective surface, acrylic is generally your best bet. Black and white are the standards, but it's available in many colours.
not sure... mostly we were playing around. this is a clear sheet of plexi on top of black paper. I wanted the gold/yellow bokeh to also reflect so I went with the clear thinking I could experiment with different color paper underneath
Definitely sounds like black acrylic's your best option for this shot then, and probably most similar ones. It would give you the exact same effect, except without the double reflection. The only time glass would be a better option would be if you need to light from below - and then you're unlikely to have visible reflections anyway.
Since plastic gets scratched after time, I got me a hardened sheet of glass and painted the bottom black. Works ok for most stuff and don´t give me a double reflection a two sided piece of glass or a mirror does. But for that perfect reflection, especially visible on macro work, a sheet of metal with a hi gloss mirror finish is the way to go. A joy to work with every time, knowing how much time it saves me in post production. Still use white acrylic as well, depending on what style I need.