Capturing cityscapes "under glass"

Some of the best potential cityscapes a photographer can capture are “under glass.” Whether you're shooting from a hotel room, an observation tower, or an observation deck, the glass between you and the cityscape creates photographic problems when making your images.

From the highest observation deck in the world, on the Shanghai Tower's 126^th floor, to the One Liberty Place observation deck in Philadelphia on the 57^th floor, the spectacular views from most urban observation decks can only be seen and photographed through glass.

Shooting through glass is an important skill for travel photographers.

There are a few glassless locations from which to shoot wonderful cityscapes, such as the top deck on the “Top of the Rock” in New York City and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but most are glassed-in.

Dealing with glass reflections at observation decks is the main problem for photographers there. It comes from the deck's internal lighting, plus interior surfaces reflecting sunlight on to the glass. Additional problems can come from visitor restrictions and maintenance.

Here are my top tips for making cityscape images “under glass.”

• If permitted, use a tripod for low light conditions. They're very helpful for golden hours, dawn, dusk and night cityscapes. Unfortunately, many observation decks ban tripods, but permit smaller, less obtrusive support devices, such as table top tripods, like the GorillaPod, and beanbags like the Steadybag which I often use.

Sometimes, the photographer must be the tripod. Find a pillar, post, wall or girder. Lean against it to help you hold your camera steady. Spread your legs as wide as your shoulders. Bring your elbows into the sides of your body. While looking through the viewfinder, press your camera against your forehead. Keep one hand under your camera body/lens and the other on the right side of your camera.

• Carry a cloth in your bag, along with some lens cleaning solution to clean fingerprints and other dirt from the glass you'll be shooting through.

• During daylight, try a polarizing filter to reduce or possibly eliminate problem reflections. At night, it won't be particularly useful as it reduces the amount of light passing through the lens.

Polarizing filters are more effective when the source of the light reflected on the glass is from the side, perpendicular to the lens. It works poorly when the light comes from in front or behind your camera. If the observation deck's glass is tinted, the tinting may add some polarization qualities to the glass. If it does, skip using the filter, as it won't work properly.

• Tinted glass will affect the color rendition of your images. To compensate, start by using auto white balance. Then experiment by adjusting your white balance settings until you find a good one or use a custom white balance setting. I stick with auto white balance, save my images in RAW format, then correct their color, if necessary, during post-processing.

• Wear dark, not light colored clothing, to reduce your reflection on the deck's glass.

• If you can control the lights at your location, such as in a hotel room, turn them off. Positioning yourself between the window and a blackout shade, if any, can also help eliminate reflections.

• Don't use a flash. It doesn't have enough power to help and will only bounce off the glass back at your camera/lens, ruining your images.

• Shoot as close to the glass as possible. Couple that with a large aperture to reduce your images' depth of field. Together that will minimize the effect of window glare and glass defects.

• Below are three physical methods to reduce or eliminate reflections on the observation deck's glass which can show up in your images. For each, get as close to the glass as possible.

º When permitted, I use a collapsible rubber lens hood on my lens, touching the glass, to eliminate reflections. It prevents you from scratching or damaging the glass. It even gives you limited freedom to adjust your camera angle while maintaining your lens hood flush to the glass. The hood's rubber material also won't pick up any glass vibration from the building or outside conditions.

º If a rubber lens hood won't work, try a Lenskirt, a portable, flexible hood which attaches to your lens, plus attaches to the glass via suction cups. It folds flat in your bag. It gives you more freedom to adjust your camera angle to the glass. Beware that observation deck personnel may object to its size and being attached to the glass.

º I've never been to an observation deck that permits blackout curtain setups because they block the view for others, however, if you're traveling with another person, they can assist you by holding a jacket or a large black cloth behind you and somewhat above your head to block out reflections.

• You may also have to overcome glass induced distortion. If much of the glass at the observation deck is angled to your camera/lens, seek out glass perpendicular to your lens, if at all possible, and shoot through it.

While glass enclosed observation decks offer photographers challenges, you can still make great cityscape images from them, if you follow the above tips.