If you can, try covering the shiny areas in talcum or baby powder to reduce the shine. The powder should be easily removable.
Maybe also sprinkle on some water soluble black paint on top of the powder layer with a toothbrush.
That way you have many tiny sprinkles of paint on the surface, creating a nice pattern for the alignment process to latch on to.
Of course, that will not work for everything or not be possible for some objects.
This also will not work if you need a texture for the object.