Tips on Art Photography

Photographing your work can run hundreds of dollars to have it professionally done. Please check the sponsors' page regularly for updated listings of good photographers to help us artists.

If you intend to do it yourself, here are a few things that could save you time and money that I learned the hard way.

Cameras and Lenses

Good results come from use of a digital camera or manual settings on a 35mm camera. A good zoom lens with a macro setting will produce a quality image.

Digital photography is the best way to go, as you see results immediately and are able to take a multitude of pictures, erasing the ones that don't show well. Be sure to take the photo with the highest resolution setting possible.

Aperture and Shutter Speed

Open the aperture as much as possible given the lighting conditions, and keep the shutter speed slow. The slower the better, but do not attempt a speed below 60 without a tripod and cable release. The image may blur unless you have extremely steady hands (skip the coffee that day).

Lighting

Lighting is the most important aspect to photographing art work. If you are using a flash, anything behind glass will reflect the flash in the photo. Incandescent bulbs which are common to most households produce an orange glow to the film, while fluorescent bulbs produce a blue glow. To correct this you can use what are know as wavelength balanced bulbs. You can also use "grow bulbs" if you cannot find bulbs where the red and blue wavelengths the bulb produces are balanced.

The placement of the light is important around your pieces. The best way I found was to diffuse the light coming from two or three sources. Light can be diffused by placing a gauze of light cloth mesh between the light source and your art work.

Change the lighting and the f-stop a number of times and take several photos of the same piece of work.

Shooting outdoors in the shade works well if the shade is solid, as from a building as opposed to a swaying tree. Also the atmospheric conditions need to be constant; a clear blue sky day as opposed to the sun shining in and out of clouds. Shooting in the direct sun can cause glare and shadow problems. But you can do it if you know how to determine the shadow and glare effects.

Film and Processing

If you are using slide film, be aware that certain films may not show greens well. It is advisable to research film through unbiased media. Fuji is recommended, as it shows the greens well.

400 speed film works well for photographing indoors with soft lighting.

If you use 35mm film, the processing should to be done to a camera-ready stage. This is done by developing the film to a CD or diskette as JPEG images; this results in camera-ready pieces. We do have the capability to scan photos or slides so if you are unable to camera-ready your images we can help you.

Do not send us the originals. We cannot return anything sent to us except under special circumstances, so it is best to send a copy unless you no longer want the image.