How To Photograph A Painting

How To Photograph A Painting

To keep these classes free please leave a donation for the teacher here. https://customclothingboutique.com/products/donat-to-motley-muse

Motley Muse

Hang your artwork on the wall We regularly see artwork photographed leaned up against a wall and shot from a downward angle. Find a neutral colored wall (white, black, gray) and hang your work at a height where the middle of your piece will be parallel to where your camera will be—either on a tripod or resting sturdily on a table or other surface.

1. Hang your artwork on the wall

We regularly see artwork photographed leaned up against a wall and shot from a downward angle. Find a neutral colored wall (white, black, gray) and hang your work at a height where the middle of your piece will be parallel to where your camera will be—either on a tripod or resting sturdily on a table or other surface.

 

2. Light your work properly

If you are shooting your work indoors, do so in a room with plenty of windows and natural light. Some artists also enjoy photographing their work outdoors when it is cloudy or overcast, as indirect sunlight provides the best lighting. Natural light can be a beautiful way to photograph your work as long as it is indirect.

If the weather isn’t cooperating, or if you are up against a late-night deadline, you will need to set up a lighting kit. The good news is, you don’t have to spend a ton for a professional setting if you aren’t ready to invest in one.

All you will need is two lights at a minimum for 2-dimensional work. We have used lighting stands that you often see in dorm rooms (the ones with three adjustable bulbs) or clamp lights. Place the lights halfway between the camera and the canvas at a 45-degree angle pointing toward the wall (this will help eliminate shadows and “hot spots” on the painting). If you have umbrellas for your lights, attach them now.

LIGHT HACK: If you don’t have professional grade lighting kit, you can easily hack diffusing the light with a white sheet or white plastic between the lights and your work. This helps to evenly distribute the light. Alternatively, a few sheets of white foam core can be set up to simulate a “raking light” effect where the lights are pointed at the foam core and the whiteboard reflects the light back at the piece.

 

Motley Muse

 

 

3. Adjust your camera and settings

Once your artwork is secured to the wall, double check that the camera is set to the lens lines up with the middle of the painting. You want to position your camera so that the frame is filled with most of the painting, with a bit of background that you can crop out later. It is important for many juries to see the edges of the paintings to get a sense of scale.

The ISO and aperture of your camera are very important to get clear, crisp and bright images of your artwork. ISO references what film speed used to measure. The higher the number, the more sensitive the film was to light and the coarser the image. In this case, since we want very crisp images, we want a low ISO. Studio shots will generally be shot at ISO 100.

The f-stop of the aperture of your camera adjusts how much light is let through the lens by making the opening bigger or smaller. The higher the number, the less light is being passed through. With a DSLR the ideal range for shooting artworks is between f-8 and f-11.

TIP: Set your camera’s timer to four or five seconds so that pressing the shutter button doesn’t create a shake in your image.

4. Edit your photos to perfection

There are plenty of free or inexpensive photo editing software alternatives out there that will help minimize any inconsistencies. I use the editor on my phone and the app Canva.

Hang your artwork on the wall We regularly see artwork photographed leaned up against a wall and shot from a downward angle. Find a neutral colored wall (white, black, gray) and hang your work at a height where the middle of your piece will be parallel to where your camera will be—either on a tripod or resting sturdily on a table or other surface.

Challenge: Photograph your art and share it with people. The more you practice the better you'll get.

For more fun here is a link to a page on my website that has links to all my different social media accounts.

https://customclothingboutique.com/pages/social-media-links

 

 

For more free classes click here.

 

返回博客

发表评论