Help - Photographing artwork
Discussion
Was having a very interesting conversation with an IT colleague of mine who let slip he's just having his first novel published. Turns out he's also quite an accomplished painter as well and his stuff goes for up to US$10k a pop.
We start talking about art and photography I showed him some of my images. He's now asked if I'll take pictures of his paintings for use on his web site and gallery brochures :eek:
I have warned him that if it doesn't have feathers on it or jump about in trees my skills are a bit limited but I did say I'd help out and see what I could do for him.
So big question is how do you light a decent size canvas? The majority are 4 feet by 3 feet or 3 feet by 2 feet kind of size. I'm concerned that if I can't get a decent even illumination I'll end up with hot spots in the image.
Help appreciated.
Chris
We start talking about art and photography I showed him some of my images. He's now asked if I'll take pictures of his paintings for use on his web site and gallery brochures :eek:
I have warned him that if it doesn't have feathers on it or jump about in trees my skills are a bit limited but I did say I'd help out and see what I could do for him.
So big question is how do you light a decent size canvas? The majority are 4 feet by 3 feet or 3 feet by 2 feet kind of size. I'm concerned that if I can't get a decent even illumination I'll end up with hot spots in the image.
Help appreciated.
Chris
i use four softboxes all at 45 degrees .. which maybe a little exessive for your needs. its important to get even light.
diffused light is very important so you don't get any hot spots.. if you don't have any lighting gear
try shooting it in indirect daylight. but make sure you read the values in PS and that the whole thing is even.
measure around the edges first then into the centre. don't blow any highlights, remember most clour spaces won't recognise any value between 8-248
make sure the white balance is set correctly and you have a chance of getting the colour right.
I met the guy who prints damon hirsts silkscreens amongst others... the othet night at a gallery. he was telling me inspite of all the sophisticated profiling equipment one can get ( which like a muppet.. I have!) it just comes down to your eyes at the end of the day
diffused light is very important so you don't get any hot spots.. if you don't have any lighting gear
try shooting it in indirect daylight. but make sure you read the values in PS and that the whole thing is even.
measure around the edges first then into the centre. don't blow any highlights, remember most clour spaces won't recognise any value between 8-248
make sure the white balance is set correctly and you have a chance of getting the colour right.
I met the guy who prints damon hirsts silkscreens amongst others... the othet night at a gallery. he was telling me inspite of all the sophisticated profiling equipment one can get ( which like a muppet.. I have!) it just comes down to your eyes at the end of the day
I would take it outside, prop it up against a suitable b/g and let Mr Sun do the lighting. I think bright shade might be best, but experiment. Use a portrait lens or longer to minimise distortion.
I said that!
>> Edited by simpo two on Monday 4th July 17:15
bacchus180 said:
he was telling me inspite of all the sophisticated profiling equipment one can get... it just comes down to your eyes at the end of the day
I said that!
>> Edited by simpo two on Monday 4th July 17:15
Cheers guys.
I think the US$10k is one painting before gallery cut of 40%, so he's not really pulling in the big bucks (afterall he's still an IT project manager 8-6 to make ends meet) to make it worth his while getting in a professional to do a top notch job for inclusion in a really flashy brochure.
I think my stuff will be used in 4*6 flyer type of way.
Current thoughts are to use his workspace and then diffuse the lights to limit / avoid hot spots.
Cheers
Chris
I think the US$10k is one painting before gallery cut of 40%, so he's not really pulling in the big bucks (afterall he's still an IT project manager 8-6 to make ends meet) to make it worth his while getting in a professional to do a top notch job for inclusion in a really flashy brochure.
I think my stuff will be used in 4*6 flyer type of way.
Current thoughts are to use his workspace and then diffuse the lights to limit / avoid hot spots.
Cheers
Chris
As already mentioned, try to get your lighting even. Shooting outside is not a bad idea if you don't have lighting.
One problem you may have, depending on the paint surface (I'll assume oil), is highlights on the ridges of the paint itself. Using Softboxes will just give you bigger highlights on the ridges and will generally desaturate the picture. Using smaller light sources, i.e. reflectors, will give better colour saturation. The downside is If the light source is too small you can have the problem of shadows being cast in the paint surface. The only way to kill the highlights is to put polarising filters on the lights as well as one on the lens.
If it's for reproduction, and colour accuracy is important, might be worth putting a known value at the edge of the frame, a Macbeth colour chart or Kodak colour patches.
Just some food for thought.
One problem you may have, depending on the paint surface (I'll assume oil), is highlights on the ridges of the paint itself. Using Softboxes will just give you bigger highlights on the ridges and will generally desaturate the picture. Using smaller light sources, i.e. reflectors, will give better colour saturation. The downside is If the light source is too small you can have the problem of shadows being cast in the paint surface. The only way to kill the highlights is to put polarising filters on the lights as well as one on the lens.
If it's for reproduction, and colour accuracy is important, might be worth putting a known value at the edge of the frame, a Macbeth colour chart or Kodak colour patches.
Just some food for thought.
If you can, remove glass that is in front of the painting (if it's glass framed) - it makes it a whole lot easier.
Apart from that, natural light, bright shadow, is ideal, but make sure that you shoot a plain white card to enable a white balance to be set before doing it.
My father has done that approach for years for his painting work, paricularly for prints, and it's been very successful.
J
Apart from that, natural light, bright shadow, is ideal, but make sure that you shoot a plain white card to enable a white balance to be set before doing it.
My father has done that approach for years for his painting work, paricularly for prints, and it's been very successful.
J
My Pentax S5i has a 'Museum' mode which "Lets you take pictures of works of art in museums and galleries."
So all you need to do is get an S5i, take the artwork to a museum (or gallery) and choose the appropriate setting, then click away to your heart's content.
I presume, from the way the manual is written, that the museum and gallery owners will also authorise your efforts by some sort of pre-arrangement with Pentax.
You could also check the S5n and S5z to see if they have the same facility ...
Coat on, hat in hand and heading quickly for the door ....
So all you need to do is get an S5i, take the artwork to a museum (or gallery) and choose the appropriate setting, then click away to your heart's content.
I presume, from the way the manual is written, that the museum and gallery owners will also authorise your efforts by some sort of pre-arrangement with Pentax.
You could also check the S5n and S5z to see if they have the same facility ...
Coat on, hat in hand and heading quickly for the door ....
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