Taking good photographs of artworks
When photographing two dimensional artworks, such as paintings, drawings and art prints, it is a good idea to concentrate on the following criteria:
1. Getting the image straight
2. Even lighting, correct exposure
3. The right colour with no disturbing effects due to the light source
4. Correct focus – the imagen in focus with no movement blur
5. The right file format for the purpose
These criteria are valid for images used on the web as well as for catalouge print, although a higher resolution is required for print.
Equipment:
Scanner/camera, tripod, lamps, large pieces of black cloth, grey cardboard.
Small artworks can often be reproduces using a flatbed scanner. Remember to turn of the scanner's digital sharpment enhancer and dust removal functions, and set it to a higher file size than you will need later. If the artwork has no neutral white or grey surfaces, the scanner automatic white balance may be mislead. In this case it is a good idea to put a neutral grey piece of cardboard beside the artwork on the scanner if there is room. This surface may then be used to set the neutral tone of the image using the colour neutralising eyedropper tool in the scanning software.
The camera, which is of course needed for pieces too large to be reprodused using the scanner, should be equipped with a good sice lens system. That is a lens with a focal width of at least 100 mm. If you are using a digital camera, then don't use the digital zoom function, as this results i a lower image quality. Shorter lenses than 100 mm makes it more difficult to place the camera right in front of the artwork, and even small shifts may result in skewed outlines. Longer lenses are also better at depicting objects evenly over the image surface.
The camera is placed on a tripod. The artwark can then either be placed on the floor below the tripod or hung on a wall. The camera is set up completely centered on the artwork, straight above or right in front of it. A small water level, which can be bought in photo stores an fitted on the camera, facilitates the levelling. Correct the camera so that the outlines of the artwork follow the guidelines in the viewfinder. In the oulines of the artwork converge inwards or outwards this means that the camera is not correcly centered. If the both the horizontal or vertical outlines slope in the same direction, this means that the camera is not correctly levelled.
If you have access to two lamps that can be placed on tripods, then set up these on either side of the artwork, each in a 45 degree angle to the piece. This will provide an even lighting. The light scources must be of the exact same type, or you will risk getting colour casts that can not be neutralized. (To check that the lighting is evenly set up, you may hold a pencil in the center of the artwork, and check that it casts two shadows of the same length.) An even light can also be had outdoors if the sky is completely clouded, or in a shaded back yard for instace. Beware of having large brightly coloured objects close to the artwork when photographing it, as this may result in colour casts.
If the surface of the artwork reflects light, such as a glass frame might do, then make sure that the camera is not in the direct light of your lamps. You may also put large pieces of black cloth in front of and around the the camera so that only the artwork can be seen through the viewfinder. Small reflections in the structure of an oil painting, for example, may be avoided by moving the lamps further away from the artwork.
Always carry out the white balance manually on a piece of white paper. Instructions on how to do this can be found in the directions for ue of your camera. A good idea is also to include a piece of neutrally gray cardboard that can then be used in the imaging software to adjust the colour.
Focus manually and ideally choose a low ISO-setting, for example 50. If you can set the iris manually on your camera, choose a value of 8 or 11, rather than a fully open iris, since the les system works better this way. This will result in a longer exposure time, which should be no problem if you have your camera on a tripod. If the image has lage white surfaces, you should also manually compensate by increasing the exposure time a notch, since the camera doesn't know that these surfaces are supposed to be completely white. If possible, switch off the automatic sharpness enhancer of the camera, and always take the picture using the highets possible quality settings. You have better control if you take the picure wiyh a high resolution and then scale it down in the computer. (NEVER scale up an image in the computer, since this results in an irrevokable quality loss.) Leave the camera on the tripod until you have looked at the image in your computer, since you may want to make adjustments.
If you are content with the image, then crop it in the computer so that only the artwork and no framing, wall, or other objects can be seen in the image. If you want to use it at The Artment, then scale it down to a width of between 600 and 1000 pixels. Then you may add some shapness by using the filter "unsharp mask" which is available in Adobe Photoshop, for instance. The save the image in jpeg-format with a quality setting of 8 or 9. This makes the image compressed enough to be viewed quickly on the web, but still with a good quality.
Good luck!
