Photographing your artwork in the digital age.

[Sharon Knettell]

Hi,

The pro used properly angled strobes and 4x5 film.

I have been photographing inside my studio slightly past midday with a polarizer. I put black velvet on the floor under the painting to reduce glare and on the wings. I have huge sliding door windows that let in a LOT of light. This area has worked really well on the pastel (sans velvet and polarizer) as pastels have no glare.

Beth, the 14 megapixel Kodak/Nikon is a camera, not a back.

[Mike McCarty]

I think this is the Kodak camera you mention:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/kodakslrc/page2.asp

[Elizabeth Schott]

Originally Posted by Mike McCarty

I think this is the Kodak camera you mention:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/kodakslrc/page2.asp

Sweet! Sharon is this your camera?

[Michele Rushworth]

Shoot at an Angle! (No Kidding.)

Don't laugh, but to avoid all glare, I shoot my paintings at an angle! This gives them terrible keystoning and perspective issues, but........

Don't worry, because this is not hard to fix and restore in Photoshop! This may not be for everyone, but it works for me. Virtually every 2D work I've posted was shot at an angle!

Just my two cents, Garth

Great idea! Do you then use the Photoshop Distort function to put the image back to its correct dimensions?

[Garth Herrick]

Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth

Great idea! Do you then use the Photoshop Distort function to put the image back to its correct dimensions?

Yes!
click (Here's how:) click

Garth

[Tom Edgerton]

I used to work in a lab, shooting artwork (including paintings) for the printing industry, with an 8x10 view camera, on both transparency and negative film.

For lighting, we used 4 tungsten photofloods with umbrellas. I've also done it with two. We didn't use polarizers, though I don't see why you couldn't, however I'd suspect it alters value relationships. I also don't see why you couldn't do it with strobes, though you'd need modeling lights to do what I describe here. And always use a tripod; don't try to do copy work holding the camera.

The key to eliminating the glare is to position the light farther out from the canvas and shallower than 45 degrees--the typical copy setup. Our lights were on a really shallow angle to the canvas, and very much out to the side, about 4-5 feet from the canvas. And instead of aiming the lights to the middle of the canvas, I'd aim them to the opposite edge, so the lights would cross in front of the canvas and mix in a softer, more even way. Meter the light with a hand-held meter at all corners, sides, and center of the canvas to make sure the light is even over the whole surface. A half-stop difference will show in the result, and your copy won't be evenly lit.

In addition to truing up the camera level and perpendicular with the wall to eliminate keystoning, here's another tip that I consider very important: Stand directly in front of the camera with the back of your head blocking the lens, in other words, position your eyes where the lens is (becoooome the caaaamera). You'll see whatever glare there is, and can tell which light it's coming from. Move the lights in or out--usually out--to get rid of the glare. You will detect way more glare than if you try to discern it through the viewfinder. If you move the lights, re-meter.

Some more tips: Try for a dark colored room, with no strong color on the walls; the color will reflect onto the painting. We shot in total darkness in a black-painted room. At least put a black cloth behind and around your painting as far out as you can; whatever is behind your painting will reflect into the lens--if it's a light color, it will "fog" and wash out your color--even with a lens hood. If you have windows or doors in the room you can't cover, shoot at night. Often, what we thought was glare from the floods was a door open down the hall, or light sneaking in from a window somewhere. And this may be more important than anything: bracket the copy with a half-stop exposure above and below what the meter says you should use. Don't try to do copy work with only one exposure. Film, or chip space, is CHEAP compared to the time you're spending.

For color fidelity, whenever we'd open a new box of film, we'd run a color test, and put color correction filters over the camera lens to bring the image to neutral color, then shoot the whole box with that filter pack. Some photographers test film before every photo session. But a lot of this has been eliminated with digital cameras and color correction in imaging programs like Photoshop.

You can eliminate keystoning with Garth's method in Photoshop, but I try not to, as I've found that even a one degree difference in the height to width ratio will distort my subjects' features. But sometimes it can't be helped, so thanks to Garth--it's still good to know how.

You may rebel at this discipline. Maybe it rubs against the "artistic temperament" (whatever THAT is). But being a little painstaking here will pay off.

Hope all of this helps--TE

[Terri Ficenec]

Originally Posted by Tom Edgerton

. . . color on the walls; the color will reflect onto the painting. We shot in total darkness in a black-painted room. At least put a black cloth behind and around your painting as far out as you can; whatever is behind your painting will reflect into the lens--if it's a light color, it will "fog" and wash out your color. . . .

Thanks Tom!... Your whole post was very helpful, useful information. ...but that in particular have seen in my photos sometimes but didn't understand where it was coming from.

[Garth Herrick]

Originally Posted by Tom Edgerton

The key to eliminating the glare is to position the light farther out from the canvas and shallower than 45 degrees--the typical copy setup. Our lights were on a really shallow angle to the canvas, and very much out to the side, about 4-5 feet from the canvas. And instead of aiming the lights to the middle of the canvas, I'd aim them to the opposite edge, so the lights would cross in front of the canvas and mix in a softer, more even way. Meter the light with a hand-held meter at all corners, sides, and center of the canvas to make sure the light is even over the whole surface. A half-stop difference will show in the result, and your copy won't be evenly lit.

Tom,

I too would like to thank you for your excellent tips for copywork. I have gotten better results than ever before just by reading your post.

I have two Lowel Totalites each with 750 watt halogen tubes. They spread light very evenly so two lights are just about sufficient. I set them up as you said, about five feet from the painting, at less than 45 degrees..... -closer to 40 degrees to the edge nearest the lights.

Here's where I got weird and experimental: You know how just two lights at each side left and right, will cause terribly distracting dark shadows just above and below the painting,...... Well I turned the painting to a 45 degree orientation on the wall (and the camera too) and voila!... no more (dark) distracting shadows!

Also I pushed your advice to aim the lights to the far side of the painting, to the outer limits. At first I pointed the two lights directly toward each other, head on. The painting was still slightly brighter lit on the side closest to the light. But I found that if I turned the lights away even another 15 degrees, suddenly each single light was more or less providing constant illumination accross the entire painting (according to the light meter in spot checks at each corner). With both lights running, perfection was guaranteed! It really made a difference in quality. Well it's almost perfect, it would be nice to be able to get the lights further away.

Now if I only had black walls....

Thanks again Tom! I got these ideas through you.

Garth

[Linda Brandon]

Originally Posted by Tom Edgerton

At least put a black cloth behind and around your painting as far out as you can; whatever is behind your painting will reflect into the lens--if it's a light color, it will "fog" and wash out your color--even with a lens hood. -TE

Hmmm. I shoot my paintings under a skylight in a bathtub "shower stall" (somewhere on the Forum I've posted a photo of this macabre system) and maybe the glossy white tiles reflecting back at me are the source of my current frustrations. I am running out to buy some black cloth.

Tom, you are a genius, if I haven't said so before.