Getting rid of extreme reflections?

[MatthewC]

I've got a shot planned for this music video I'm doing where the camera cranes up some ivy outside the kitchen window to reveal a girl inside happily doing dishes. Now the camera is obviously reflected in the window. I don't think a polarizer will get rid of it completely. What other options are there?

I was thinking about wrapping the whole area in black around the window so no outside light is getting to the window itself, then just trickling some light onto the ivy at the bottom. Any alternatives?

Will a mild dulling spray work?

 

[Sad Max]

Unless you want some reflections, just remove the glass from the window frame. Dulling spray will knock back reflections but will also cut the transparency of the glass.

 

[Jockomo]

Shoot it at dusk or dawn when there is very little outside light and you can match the level with interior lighting. (lights on either side of the inside of the window, out of sight of the camera but illuminating your subject)

Or even shoot it at night and light your exterior like it's daylight. Then you can control where the light falls and chances are your camera will be mostly in darkness, thus not reflected.

That's assuming you can get the set dark and it's not under a street light.

 

[Steve Laramie]

the darker it is behind the glass the more reflections.

 

[profnoxin]

Def camoflage the camera. Sometimes black is not the best option, depending on what's going to be behind it. Shooting with a longer lens will keep your reflection slightly less obvious... Take the shot at an angle to the glass that has the most busy background is also going to help you out. If you need to be extremely close to the glass when you come up to it, I would suggest getting a remote head so that you can move your camera to one side of the glass and shoot in at an angle. If you need to be dead on, and close to the glass, you're going to be in that picture.