Sisters double portrait

Cindy Procious · 05-12-2004, 02:20 PM

24" x 30" oil on RealLinen panel

A surprise mother's day gift - finished, thankfully, in time for the client to surprise his wife last Sunday.

I have a lot to learn regarding photographing paintings. I am so disappointed in how the pictures turned out, and now I don't have the opportunity to reshoot the painting with a better camera set up.

Michele Rushworth · 05-12-2004, 10:55 PM

This turned out very nicely. I particularly like the alabaster skin of the younger sister.

Linda Brandon · 05-13-2004, 12:55 AM

Very nice, Cindy! I love the subtle color and value changes in the faces, you've done a terrific job with this. I also like how you've caught the relationship between the two sisters.

How are you photographing your paintings? Maybe one of us here can help you with that.

Jimmie Arroyo · 05-13-2004, 10:42 AM

It looks great. It must look that much better in person if these are bad photos. Is there a way to ask them to shoot it again for your portfolio?

Cindy Procious · 05-13-2004, 11:15 AM

I was given my digital camera for mother's day last year, and I really wish I had known then what to ask for. It's a Kodak Easyshare - and works terrifically for snapping candid photos, but horribly for archiving paintings. I asked for it specifically because of the dock accessory - it's a charging system that connects to the computer so you can download the photos and charge the battery simultaneously. Ironically, the dock no longer works.

I'm afraid there's no help available for me, short of buying a new set-up. I could get a tri-pod to help with the blurring, but I will wait until I can sort through the wealth of information to figure out which camera will suit my needs and budget. (Budget being the biggest factor.)

Anyway - the client is a (cartooning) colleague, so I'm fairly sure that I can get permission to go back and re-shoot. Short of that, hopefully by the time I need to varnish his painting, I will have a quality set-up.

Speaking of varnishing - is it necessary to remove the painting from its frame for the final varnish?

Debra Jones · 05-13-2004, 11:30 AM

You are getting glare. It looks like you did it outside or in natural light, because there is a light bluish cast at the top.

I have recently had a shake up in confidence so I don't feel qualified right now to tell you what to do, but diffuse and indirect are usually the best. The balanced twin lamps with color adjustment are wonderful but not easy to achieve. My first suggestion would be to try to tilt them away from the light source so there is less of that subtle reflection.

It is possible to get really decent snaps from a marginal camera for posting, but now is the time to begin getting your slides ready. That is the real camera stuff. I am amazed how important that is becoming to me.

Oh and they look really really good up close! Elegant solution to your pillows and wall.

dj*

Cindy Procious · 05-13-2004, 01:54 PM

Glare and blur. The double-whammy.

I open all the blinds in my studio, and turn on the overhead light - all so I can get enough light into the camera so the photo doesn't come out dark, and even more blurry.

It wasn't so bad before I applied retouch varnish - that really makes for bad glare. I tried shooting from an angle - that does serve to eliminate most of the worst of it, but then the image is blurry and out-of-whack. Then it's a matter of dinking with the image in Photoshop until I think it's correct.

I've seen the diagrams in the photography threads regarding outdoor lighting - umbrellas, etc. Eventually, I suppose, I'll need to invest in that sort of thing.

You're shooting slides of your work? Is that the source of your confidence shake-up?

Debra Jones · 05-13-2004, 02:03 PM

I have been getting 24 exposure rolls developed of auto focus 35mm pictures with all possible configurations and have had decent luck. I get in shows and have samples for what I need, but I have a REASON now for them and I swear, I am blowing 50%.

The oils I have done recently I take outside on a bright, but shaded patio and lay an old black overcoat, felt side out, on a wall or bench to make a neutral background.

The shade lets a lot of light in but if there is no direct illumination it keeps it from going really washed out or blue.

In my digital I can try for a tilt or distortion and take the parallax out in the photo-shop but the slides are just there.

The processing is only $8 and the film is $6.50 so if I get one good one it is still a bit cheaper than the $25 a slide the pros charge. And I usually get at least 4, used to be 10 but I am trying to photograph my sueded mat pastel pieces and they are a bummer.

On paper I get as far as I can and use the strobe in daylight. It seems to make a cleaner color balance in spite of the sunshine but it is lousy on shiny surfaces. My 10x optical zoom is the BEST!

IF I ever had the time to go take a seminar on photography again I would completely implode from lack of time but might actually get a tall tripod so I don't have to keep stacking phone books to get the lens centered!

Good luck, good work!

Cindy Procious · 05-14-2004, 08:19 AM

I'm sorry you're having difficulties. I would have thought that the pastels on sueded mat would be a snap to snap. Interesting.

One aspect of digital cameras (the better ones, that is - not mine) is the bracketing feature. Have you tried that?

If there's one thing I've learned from getting to "know" you, Debra, it's that you are one heck of a resourceful woman. In your own inimitable style, you will conquer this, I am sure!

Debra Jones · 05-14-2004, 09:37 AM

I can fix most of my digitals in my computer if I have bracketing problems.

My problem is the automatic 35mm. I am not doing badly with the pastels and the flash is great on most everything, but the visual framing distortion is very tricky on small format pieces. I have two notches in from top and side to help you guide to see where the viewfinder distortion will correct but I am still taping like mad just to make things square. And I prefer natural light, but find external light will trick it often and I can't see the blue until I get them back from the lab.

Even a cheap digital with the advantage of being able to throw out 99% of the bad ones to get the good one, nearly guarantees I have my shot. And my average is much higher on 35mm to keep me away from the websites that create slides from digital files!

Thank you, I AM resourceful. What I need to be is a bit less creative and more predictable. You have no idea how many times I have reinvented the wheel.