Intro to Photographing Your Work

CHRISTIAN NGUYEN - Basic Studio Set Up for Art Photography



Camera
• SLR with manual control modes
• ISO no higher that 800
• Use a prime lens whenever possible
• 5.6 -11 f-stop
• at slow speeds > 60 use the timer or shutter cable
• shoot RAW files whenever possible - if not the largest size available to your camera


Lights

• Hot Lights 3200K this can be also called Tungsten lights - yellow, warmer tone
  
• Strobes 5-5200K balanced for daylight
  
• Stands, Umbrellas to position the lights and diffuse the light beam
  
• Reflector cards - foam core is good, but if n/a then a sheet of paper - should be as wide as the artwork.

LENS

• Prime Lens are generally sharper than zoom lens
  
• 50, 85 mm is good for art work, portraiture and still lifes.
  
• Use f-stops 5.6 to 11 get best results from the lens - wide open can result in unfocused areas
  on the edge of the frame and also low depth of field.
  
• Depth of field is the amount of sharpness from the
  foreground to the background. The higher the f-stop,
  the deeper the depth of field.
  
• Low depth of field is used to blur the background
  and isolate the subject. (See below.)
  

White Balance - set at the temp of your lights
The WB is what the camera sees re: temperature of light
If the camera is set at 5000K and the lighting is Tungsten then it will be very yellow If the camera is set at 3200K and its daylight, then everything is going to look blue

Choose the correct WB for based on your lighting
This is usually an in camera menu mode - this will set the camera sensor at the right logarithm filter for the available light.
• Avoid mixing lights - black out the curtains when using tungsten.
• Overcast days are best when shooting out doors.
• Light at noon gives good indoor lighting.
• Studios with northern exposures get longer diffused light over the day.

ISO - sensitivity of the CCD sensor

• Use the lowest ISO possible for your exposure range - especially with tungsten lights
  
• Strobes normal shoot at 125, so set the ISO to the exposure range based on the Shutter
  Speed you want
  Left: low ISO - low noise in shadows Right: high ISO - visible noise in shadows
  

Light Meter
• an external light meter is useful
• move the lights so the area of light is even across the shooting surface • Start at equal distance from wall
• 45 degrees from center line
• level to above middle of art work
• shadows on the wall should be even

AVOIDING GLARE

• Move lights to alternate positions, changing the angle of reflection.
  
• If shooting artwork with a lot of reflective surface, use black or white paper or mat board
  to help eliminate the reflection.
  
• If lights are causing glare, increase the angle of the lights or move further to the sides of
  the artwork until the reflection is no longer visible.
  
• If available, the use of an overhead diffused light source (like a softbox) will greatly aid in
  photographing 3-D works and help create a gradated background for your work.
  

The use of white foam board or mat board can greatly help in evening lighting with 3-D works. Use these to help reflect the light onto your objects. This can replace the use of

your fill light.

Keystoning - when camera is not level with the squaring of the artwork Clockwise from top:• Too high• Too far to right

• Too low• Too far to left • Green is level

Photos from https://www.theartleague.org/blog/2015/08/13/the-zero-budget-guide-to-photographing-artwork/

Camera Position

• Establish Center line from artwork
  
• camera lens level to artwork
  
• level horizontal
  
• level vertical
  
• fill the artwork as
  much as possible in the frame of the camera

Photographing Objects

Differences:



Foreground and background lighting - control the ratio between the front and back of the set Shadows on the ground and background - control contrast and direction of the shadow
Fill - control the light on either side of the object - establish the Main and Fill lights
Reflections - use black, white or gold cards to control the reflections on the object

Image: https://hope.edu/academics/art-and-art-history/special-programs-opportunities/photographing-artwork-for-digital-portfolio.html