How to remove reflection from a glass picture frame?

[ningz71009935]

I shot this in a rest room at a San Francisco restaurant with my i-Phone.  I like the image very much and want to edit it a little in PS.  Could someone teach me how to remove the reflection from the glass of the picture frame?  Many thanks.

[postrophe]

Hi

I'v never helped anyone trying to stole somebody else artwork (in any forms). How old are you ? I hope you understand that there are copyrights law.

Pierre

[D Fosse]

Yes, that's always a consideration, but private use is allowed. Distribution is not allowed.

Copyright laws vary by country, but are generally quite complicated, mainly intended to protect commercial interests and privacy.

[ningz71009935]

I probably forgot to mention that I intended to edit it just for my own viewing pleasure.

If you know how to acquire a clean and legal copy of this image (I have no idea whose work this is), I'd be more than happy to pay for it.

[Derek Cross]

Using an image for "your own viewing pleasure" does not exclude you from copyright law, which is broadly the same throughout the world, (apart from those countries who do not uphold intellectual property rights).

[D Fosse]

No, that's true, my point was that this isn't a simple black or white. When you start getting into copyright law, the first major surprise is how much is based on common sense and interpretation of circumstances. "Reasonable" is a frequent term.

Private use is allowed, documentation/research is allowed, "newsworthy" coverage is allowed (there are whole chapters devoted to that). What is clearly not allowed is anything that impacts commercial interests, or what is called "ideal rights" as author of the work (a complex subject in itself).

Most of this is covered in the Bern convention, which most European legislation complies with. But the US is a somewhat special case.

I'm not saying anything goes. My own work is published around the world, and I frequently see my own images even without proper photo credit. So I'm fully aware of the reality here.

But let's not panic and go to the trenches every time someone has copied an image. It's not as simple as that.

[ningz71009935]

Honestly, I am somewhat amused.

You go to a restaurant to have lunch.  You see a picture hanging in a frame in the restroom of the restaurant.  You like it very much.  You look around and don't see any sign by the restaurant owner that says "no photograph" like you see in a gallery.  You take your cell phone out and make a snapshot.  You come back home and try to edit it in PS, after a Google image search of the picture (an attempt to find a place that may be selling it) returns nothing.  You are not quite sure how to do it in PS, so you come to this forum and ask about it just in case.

Could anyone cite the specific US copyright law here and point out any violation of the law in this case?  I'd appreciate it.

[D Fosse]

ningz71009935 wrote:

Honestly, I am somewhat amused.

Why? It's simple. Anything you do with this image at home is OK. If you try to distribute it without permission and proper credit, you can't do that. Roughly speaking, but you get the idea.

Whether or not there is a sign in the restaurant is beside the point. It's not their call - it's yours, if you (hypothetically) wanted to publish it. Then you'd simply have to find out who made it, and get permission. It's about protection of intellectual property.

You may not think it's "art", but it's protected by law just the same.

[ningz71009935]

D Fosse,

You and I think the same.  And I thought I'd made clear both the circumstances and my intention.  I apologize for anything, if any, that I might've not made perfectly clear.

And I thank you for the help once again.

Peace.

[mavots]

Who cares about the legal issues?

The question was how to remove glare/reflection from an object. I have the same issue and this looked like a promising thread.

In my case I am trying to remove a reflection off of a book cover.

Instead this thread was a waste of my time.

[D Fosse]

Waste of time? The reflection question was fully and completely answered in post #2. I'd say you hit jackpot.

[anthoneyt61575189]

not everyone is steeling art I do hi gloss automotive style murals and font always have the best environment to photograph my work. but i still need to remove my reflection from the photo or at least lessen its fx

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

You can't just "peel off" a reflection - it's an integral part of the image you have. You need to dig in your heels and do it manually. Yes, it's doable, but it can take an incredible amount of time.

Which is why, in my job as an art museum photographer, a large part of my work consists of killing reflections before they hit the camera sensor. For that I use things like cross-polarized lighting setups as well as careful modeling of light sources and directions.

The best way to deal with it IMO is to set up a couple of adjustment layers, some lightening, some darkening - and then inverse the mask to black (to hide the adjustment), and gradually paint in the correction. Hit X to paint back out if you overdo.

Not trying to discourage you, just being realistic. This is difficult work.

[ningz71009935]

And thanks a lot D Fosse.  I'd go that general direction and try to figure things out.

[CJWilkes]

Here is a tutorial by Phlearn How to Remove Glare from Glasses in Photoshop - YouTube

[JJLAPIN]

Or make a quick mask and adjust it in curves and be done with it in 30 seconds.

[kaytling]

WOW, are you able to do it to this????