Photographing art using a digital camera

If you are an artist you have undoubtedly considered the importance of photographing art as a way of creating a record for your portfolio as well as to use for marketing and for submission to publications.



You could pay a professional to photograph your work for you or even use a top quality scanning service.

But really, digital photography offers the perfect solution for most needs, is inexpensive and, better still, you can set up a photo shoot at your convenience.

If you have a decent camera and a few simple tools to set up an impromptu studio you can do it yourself.

The most important factors in photographing art are a clean background and good lighting. It does not matter if you are using a traditional SLR camera or digital photography to capture images of paintings, prints, jewellery, sculpture or glasswork, the basic set-up and requirements will be the same.

Here are the basic tools you will need for photographing artwork:

• Camera. You need to use a good quality camera, especially if you are going to want to have prints made of your work. A digital SLR from Nikon or Canon is a good choice. If you do not have one, see if you can borrow one from a friend. Once you are set up for photographing art you are going to want to do your whole collection. You will only need to do this once in a while.

Or you could just photograph each artwork as it is completed.

• Tripod. This holds the camera perfectly still and will allow you to get the clearest, sharpest pictures of your artwork, which is critical for enlargements. It also allows you to easily keep the framing and angles the same in all of the photographs - your portfolio will look much more professional.

• Lighting. In order to eliminate all the shadows in your digital photography you will need some additional lighting. You do not need expensive photography studio lights; in fact you may already have some lamps that will work. If not you can use the inexpensive metal reflector lamps sold at hardware stores with good quality photography bulbs from a camera shop.

These offer a soft light that mimics natural daylight. Alternately you can use regular bulbs and use tracing paper as a diffuser in front of the bulb. Be careful though – it could be a fire hazard. You will need as many as 4 lamps depending on the natural lighting in your studio space.

• Computer editing software. Use a programme like Adobe Photoshop to edit your photographs when you are done. There are several programmes that will do a great job fixing the colour balance and allowing you to crop the images. Use one you are familiar with for the best results.

Once you have gathered the necessary equipment you are ready to start photographing artwork. Use a neutral background. A sheet on the wall works well if your walls are marked, coloured or cluttered. Position the artwork on an easel or on the wall and set up the camera on the tripod in front of it.

Adjust the angle of the camera so that the sides of your painting are parallel with the frame of the picture.

Set up the lighting on both sides with one set of lights down low and another set up high. You can use chairs or ladders to clamp the lamps onto. Take a few pictures and check them on the computer. When you are happy with the results, you are ready to photograph your collection. Good luck!

PS: If you have paintings to quickly photograph for your records you could do as I do - stand them in full sunlight and use a flash. Bingo! The sunlight seems to counteract the intensity of the flash, resulting in good colour and a sharp image.

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