After hours of painting, fatigued and pressed for time, we frequently overlook the most essential step in the process: capturing the work. Too many of us are clueless about the details and settle for a few lousy photos before sending the artwork out.
So it might be pretty tempting to take a few shots of your work with your iPhone and call it a day, but as a professional artist, you need to be able to share high-resolution photos of your work on your online portfolio website.
Because online product photos for your website and social media profiles must appropriately depict your artwork and generate a positive impression, the last thing you want is to spend a lot of time working on your art only to miss out on possibilities to sell prints or apply to art shows because the photo quality isn’t good enough.
Steps to Help Photograph Your Artwork
It takes more than just pressing a button on your phone to take good photos of your artwork for Instagram, Pinterest, exhibitions or even your portfolio. But don’t worry, we’ve got your back.
Here are the steps you’ll need to do to get a photograph that properly represents your artwork.
1. Prepare Your Background by Planning Ahead
The first step in preparing to photograph artwork is to decide where you will shoot it. A neutral-colored wall is the most excellent backdrop for shooting a painting, as vivid colors might detract from the artwork or even change the color balance of the final image.
Besides, when photographing artwork, white is the recommended background color as it simplifies the editing process.
Create a simple scene that complements your artwork if you wish to incorporate lifestyle pictures of your painting. Consumers frequently require examples of how an image will seem in a home to envision it on their own.
Simply make sure that your background doesn’t detract from your work, which should always be the image’s central focal point.
2. Your Artwork Should be Hung on a Wall
Hanging your painting on a wall or other level surface is the best method to ensure that you get an accurate photo of it. You don’t want your painting to be at an angle, so if you’re using an easel to hold it up, you might need to match the angle of your camera to avoid image distortion. Make sure the middle of your artwork is parallel to your camera in either case.
If you’re working with paper, you’ll need to anchor it to a level surface before mounting it on the wall. If you want to avoid producing more work for yourself in post-production, use a level to guarantee that your work hangs straight.
But if the artwork must be leaning against a wall at an angle, make sure you’re shooting from the same perspective (this is where a tripod comes in handy).
You may believe that you can simply hold your camera or iPhone to take photos. Still, it’s in your best interest to use a tripod or another stable surface, such as a table, to limit the risk of blurry photos caused by camera movement.
It’s also a good idea to use your camera’s timer setting so that the movement of your hand doesn’t result in out-of-focus images of your work when you push the shutter release button.
3. Photograph Your Work in the Best Light Possible
Let’s get right to the point and address the most common problem when taking images at home. That is to find the right light to take the perfect photo of your artwork.
It’s most likely that you don’t have any lighting equipment. That means you’ll have to rely on either your home’s lighting or natural illumination. But even in the winter, the quality and dispersion of natural light are far superior to any lights in your home.
Going outside is the simplest method to create excellent lighting. Because there is only one light source (the sun), it’s simple to position oneself to one side of the frame and shoot an above shot without casting your own shadow.
So as long as the light is indirect, natural light can be a lovely method to photograph your work. Taking your artwork off the easel and placing it in natural sunshine will improve practically every part of the photographic process, especially color accuracy.
You’ll need to set up a lighting kit if the weather isn’t cooperating or if you have a late-night deadline. The good news is that if you aren’t ready to invest in a professional environment, you don’t have to spend a fortune.
For 2-dimensional work, you’ll need two lights at the most. We’ve utilized clamp lights or lighting stands like the ones you see in dorm rooms.
Place the lights at a 45-degree angle, pointing toward the wall halfway between the camera and the canvas (this will help remove shadows and “hot spots” on the painting). Attach your light umbrellas now if you have them.
4. Make Changes to Your Camera and Settings and Make Sure It’s in Focus
After you’ve mounted your artwork to the wall, double-check that the camera’s lens is aligned with the center of the painting. Position your camera such that most of the painting is visible in the frame, with a small amount of background that you may crop out later. Many jurors insist on seeing the margins of the paintings to gain a sense of scale.
Your camera’s ISO and aperture are critical to achieving clear, clean, and bright photographs of your artwork. ISO refers to the unit of measurement for film speed. The higher the number, the lighter sensitive the film was and the grainier the image was.
We want a low ISO in this scenario because we want immaculate photos. In most cases, studio photographs will be taken at ISO 100.
The f-stop of your camera’s aperture controls how much light is permitted past the lens by adjusting the opening size. The smaller the number, the less light passes through. The best aperture range for photographing artworks with a DSLR is between f-8 and f-11.
When it comes to precisely capturing the colors of your art, having the correct white balance on your camera is crucial. Your camera’s settings should include a white balance (WB) slider, allowing you to choose between auto white balance and custom matching the colors of your scene.
You’ll be far better off using a color checker and the custom white balance setting than relying on your camera’s auto WB.
If you’re using a digital camera, it’s almost always set to autofocus, so you shouldn’t have any problems, especially if you snap a few photographs to account for any corrections the camera makes.
Conclusion
Knowing how to photograph your art effectively might make the difference between being accepted into a show and gaining the favor of a key customer or gallery director.
Every piece of art you create takes time and creative energy, so it’s only logical that you’d want to photograph your drawings and paintings perfectly for future safekeeping and sharing.