Keep the glasses in the portrait
If someone usually wears glasses, asking them to remove them may make the portrait feel less like them. Start with the glasses on and treat reflections as a lighting problem to solve, not a reason to change the person’s appearance. Ask whether they have a preferred way of wearing their frames, and let them know you may suggest small changes to their position to keep their eyes visible.
A reflection is not always a flaw. A faint highlight can give the lenses shape, while a bright patch across the pupils can make it hard to connect with an expression. Before changing anything, take a test frame and look closely at both eyes. Check for reflections in each lens separately: a slight turn of the head can clear one lens while making the other worse.
Change the angle before changing the light
Glare depends on the relationship between the light, the lenses, and the camera. A small adjustment to any one of them can move a reflection away from the eyes. Ask your subject to turn their face a little, lower or raise their chin slightly, or look toward a point near the camera. You can also move the camera a few steps to one side. Make one change at a time, then check the result so you know what helped.
Watch the rest of the portrait as you work. A chin position that clears the lenses may feel unnatural or create an unflattering expression. Rather than holding someone in an awkward pose, try a different camera position or lighting direction. The goal is an easy, recognizable portrait, not perfectly clear lenses at any cost.
Place the light where it helps the eyes
Indoors, a large window to one side of the subject can provide soft light without placing a bright rectangle directly over their eyes. Have the person stand or sit at a slight angle to the window, then adjust their position while watching the lenses. If the window appears prominently in both lenses, move the subject farther from it, rotate them slightly, or shift your own viewpoint. Curtains can soften the light, though the effect on reflections will depend on the room and the angle.
With a lamp, flash, or softbox, try moving the light higher and to one side rather than aiming it straight at the face from near the camera. Keep some light on the eyes: eliminating glare is little help if the eye sockets become too dark. If you use a reflector or a bright wall to fill shadows, check whether that fill creates a new reflection. For an outdoor portrait, open shade can be a useful starting point, but nearby bright surfaces may still show in the lenses.
Check focus and exposure through the lenses
Focus on the visible eye rather than the rim of the frame. Eye-detection autofocus can be useful, but it may occasionally favor a reflection, a thick frame, or a nearer feature. Review a magnified image after your first few frames. If focus repeatedly lands on the glasses, choose a smaller focus area and place it over the eye, or make a careful manual adjustment when the subject is still.
Pay attention to the face as well as the lenses when assessing exposure. Very bright reflections can attract attention, but darkening the entire picture to control them may leave the expression hard to read. First try to move the reflection with a change in angle. Then adjust exposure for the skin and eyes, checking that important highlights are not distractingly bright. A moderately smaller aperture can give you a little more room for focus if the face is turned, though it will not remove glare.
Use a short, repeatable portrait exercise
To practice, photograph a willing subject beside a window without moving the light. Take one frame facing the window, one with their face turned slightly away, and one after you move the camera to the side. Compare the position of the reflections, the visibility of each eye, and how natural the pose feels. Repeat with a lamp if you have one, moving it between frames while the subject stays comfortable.
When you find a good arrangement, take a few more pictures while talking with the subject rather than asking them to hold a fixed expression. Review the images together if appropriate. The strongest frame may have a small reflection but a much better expression—and that is often a worthwhile trade.
