Tips on how to photograph an artwork properly
Would you like to photograph your own artwork but are not sure how to go about it? Here are a few essential tips to help you achieve a high-quality photograph of your painting or other work of art. The key is well-chosen lighting and a properly set-up camera – these days, even a decent smartphone will do the job.
1. How to go about it - well, reproduction photography is a discipline in its own right, with its own specialists and so on. So what we are talking about here is not an expert approach, but rather – let us say – a practical, do-it-at-home way of reproducing your work. Naturally, the result will therefore have certain limitations.
2. Lighting - the light falling on the painting needs to be diffused, i.e. evenly distributed. If you do not own quality studio lighting, you can photograph the painting outdoors. The lighting must be absolutely even, so we recommend shooting somewhere behind the house in diffused daylight – that is, in the shade, not in direct sunlight. It is a good idea to place a white surface beneath the artwork so that it reflects the light coming from above. With oil paintings in particular, the light source tends to reflect off the glossy surface of the canvas, which then makes photographing the work more difficult. This brings us to the next point, which is the direction of the light.
3. Direction of the light - especially with artificial lighting, position the light source so that the light is not reflected back into the camera lens. Outdoors, avoid shooting in direct sunlight and choose the shade instead. A slightly overcast day with diffused light is more suitable.
4. Camera settings - place the camera on a tripod or another stable surface, switch off the flash, set ISO 100 and a white balance of around 5000 K, and choose the RAW format for any further editing in Photoshop. The same rules generally apply when shooting with a good camera phone, except that you do not set the ISO or white balance on it.
5. Editing - there is no need to zoom in too much on the subject while shooting. Any unwanted surroundings can be cropped out later in an editor. If you want to achieve maximum resolution, photograph the painting in several sections, which can later be stitched together in an editor.
6. One final tip - if anything is unclear, or if you would like help with photographing or editing your artwork, do not hesitate to contact us at info@originalgallery.com