Basic Rules of Art Photography

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Basic Rules of Art Photography

Photographing Your Art, by David Silver

Published December 3, 2001

It is pretty exciting; your work can now be seen
instantly by millions of people, all around the
world with a few simple mouse clicks. Not only do
they see it, they know that you are the artist and
they have a means to contact you. However, you have
to be able to get your artwork from your studio
and into the computer. That means that your artwork
needs to be photographed.

Now, if talk of _-stops, meter readings, and film stocks make your palms
sweat and your throat tighten, then I recommend
that you have a professional photographer photograph
your work. Ask other artists for suggestions on
whom to hire and make sure that the photographer
has experience in photographing artwork. Some photographers
specialize in this area and do a very good job and
are well worth it.

Many artists have had some exposure to photography (excuse the pun), and can easily
learn what they need to know to photograph their
work. For the purposes of this article, I will first
discuss photographing 2-Dimensional or flat art,
this is known as "Copy Work" to produce
35mm color transparencies (slides), and then how
to get your slide into a digital form.

Why Slides: Color transparency film records a much greater amount of information
than print film (dynamic range) with greater color
accuracy when used in a controlled lighting environment.

Digital or Film?: Film is still superior in the amount of information it captures
compared to most consumer level digital cameras.
From film you can make large prints, make duplicate
slides, and create digital files suitable for publishing.
Most juried exhibits still require slides. A digital
camera is ideal for photographing your work for
the web where file size and resolution are not critical
issues and it saves you the cost of film and processing.
You do not need to scan a slide to get it into digital
form.

The Basics

What You Need:

Art ...(That's up to you)
A 35mm Single Lens Reflex Camera that can be manually
adjusted, with a built in light meter or a hand
held meter.
A50mm or greater length focal length lens. Avoid wide
angle
lenses due to distortion.
A tripod. Essential, cable release, recommended.
Film (tungsten balanced slide film recommended)
2 lights with light stands, 10 to 12 inch reflectors,
and 3200_K
bulbs.
An 18% Reflectance Grey Card.
Space to set up where you can control the lighting.
A nice hot cup of coffee... optional, but couldn't
hurt.

The Procedure

Choose a background: Choose a neutral, white, gray, or
black. White sometimes causes too much light to
be reflected back into the lens and causes flair
and colors to be washed out. I prefer black, it
usually contrasts well with the art and there
are no reflections to cause flair. Black felt
from a fabric store works well. Attach the background
to the wall. If no background is going to show,
you do not need one.
Hang Artwork on the background: Make sure that the
artwork is plum (vertical and level). If your
artwork is small, you can place your background
and artwork on the floor and place the camera
overhead.
Place Camera Perpendicular to the Art: The back of the
camera should be vertical and parallel to the
art and the camera should be level. The artwork
should be centered and squared in the viewfinder.
Leave a little extra room in the edges of the
frame because some slide mounts crop into this
area.

4. Place Lights at an equal distance, 45_ from the
wall: The placement of lights is important. The
lighting should be even over the entire surface
of the artwork. The distance the lights are placed
from the wall is dependent on the size of the
artwork. If the lights are too close, then there
will be a hot spot in the middle of the artwork.
Move the lights back while maintaining a 45_
angle until the artwork is evenly illuminated
from the center, to the corners on both sides.
If your artwork is reflective or varnished, you
might notice some glare when you look through
the viewfinder. You can try to modify the angles
of the lights or pull the lights farther back
until the glare disappears. Sometimes the use
of polarizing filters helps eliminate glare.

Metering: Place the Gray Card in the center of your artwork
(you may need to take your artwork down so you
can attach the Gray Card to the wall). Move your
camera towards the wall so that the entire frame
is filled with the Gray Card. Be careful not to
cast any shadow with your body or camera on the
card. With your lens focused on infinity, take
a meter reading (Shutter Speed and _-Stop
based on the film speed) and set your camera to
that exposure. Remove the Gray Card, place the
artwork back on the wall and move your camera
back to it's original position.
Make an Exposure: With the artwork carefully centered
in the viewfinder, expose the film as to the exposure
set when the Gray Card was metered. Make sure
that your camera is not in an automatic exposure
mode and that the exposure does not change to
one other than the one noted when the Gray Card
was metered.
Bracket Exposures: Since color transparency film has a
very limited latitude, it needs to be exposed
very precisely. It is always a good idea to make
additional exposures. Maintain you shutter speed
and open your aperture up 1/2 stop and make an
exposure and then close your aperture down 1/2
stop and make an exposure. This will give you
a range of three exposures and once the film is
developed, you can choose which exposures looks
best. In some instance where there are a lot of
dark, heavy tones in a piece of artwork, the overexposed
slide looks better and conversely, artwork with
very subtle light tones might be better underexposed.
Shoot More Pieces: Remove the artwork you just photographed
and place the next one to be photographed. If
you do not need to change the position of the
lights, then your base exposure from the previous
shot remains the same. If you need to move the
lights because of uneven illumination or glare,
then a new meter reading needs to be made.

Process the Film: Choose a good local custom color lab
for this. The quality of the lab can make a difference.
You've just done all this work! You want the best
possible results!
10. Look at What You've Done: Look at your slides
closely on a good light box with a loupe (magnifier).
The custom lab where you just picked up your film
probably has one. If you are going to be working
with slides, a good light box and a loupe are
worthwhile investments.

COMMENTS

Petrina

11/21/2003 * 01:27:56

Your article is written nicely and quite easy to read.
Thanks for sharing.
I use a digital camera now & like it quite a lot.
My err using the 35mm was that I was always in too much of a hurry to photograph my watercolor...after I'd framed it.
In a hurry to see the rest of this neat site.
thanks again...
petrina
If URL is a website, I don't have one.

willie

02/14/2004 * 10:21:05

Just about to start photograph my work for the mindsisland.
i have a very good digital camera, the trouble i have is, i work mostly in watercolors and they are mouted behind glass,
do i have to remove all my pictures ? as the reflection may distort results?

Pete Lyons ( homepage )

04/01/2004 * 21:10:01

Hello all.
Not much activity in this forum, but I'd like to introduce myself
and my photos by inviting anyone to take a look and tell me if you like any of my work.

Regards,
Pete Lyons

pdl01151@yahoo.com

Gayla Yates ( homepage )

04/11/2004 * 22:38:05

The digital photos I've taken do not do justice to the dimensionality, or the way my metallics reflect light, or the diffraction effects that make the colors shift as you move, or the effect of the mirror that compels people reach out and touch it. Maybe if I had a movie, then at least you could watch the colors change.

Peggy Chaffin ( homepage )

05/04/2004 * 08:38:49

Nice, to the point instruction. I'm trying to get a corner set up permanently for photographing my work with my 35mm film camera. Currently, I'm dependent on the generosity of friends with digital cameras for my web site photos.

Suzanne Cerny ( homepage )

07/05/2004 * 14:42:55

Thanks for the concise information. I will pay attention to it and use it on my next photo shoot. I usually have 4 × 5 prints made for transparencies for Giclee Printing.

Johnny Otilano ( homepage )

09/07/2004 * 21:54:10

These are great advise. I just learned a lot from it.Thanks!

Katrina Taylor ( homepage )

02/15/2006 * 14:17:13

I really love your website. The graphics are outstanding.

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