Photographing Your Art

Snapping pics for a website doesn't have to be complicated. With a few simple tips, you can take eye-catching photos with ease.

For the web

1. Today's phone cameras are surprisingly capable of capturing crisp, vivid shots. Just make sure to hold it steady and frame your subject straight on.

2. When possible, head outdoors and shoot in soft, diffused daylight. If the weather won't cooperate, scout out a spot indoors near large windows.

3. Don't sweat small stuff like color balance or cropping. That's what photo editing apps are for! Download a user-friendly program like Photoshop Express and play with filters and adjustments to your heart's content.

For Print

1. Hang your work on the wall. Find a neutral colored wall (white or gray) and hang your work at the height where the middle of your piece will be parallel to where your camera is pointing – either on a tripod or sitting on a hard surface, such as a shelf or table.

2. Light your work. If shooting indoors, make sure you shoot in a room with plenty of windows and natural light. Avoid direct sunlight on your artwork as this may create glare and affect the colors of your photograph.  You can light your work with lamps. For 2D works, all you need is two lights. (Preferably using Daylight bulbs). Clamp lights work great for this. You want to place the lights halfway between the camera and your work on the wall at a 45-degree angle pointing towards the wall (this angle will help eliminate any glare you might get from the lights). If you are still experiencing glares from the lights – you can diffuse the lights with white sheets in front of them.

3. Double check your camera. Once your artwork is hung on the wall and lit with lamps, double check that the camera is set to where the lens lines up with the middle of the painting – with little to no background showing. The artwork should take up the majority of the frame in your picture. The ISO and aperture of your camera are very important to get clear, crisp and bright images of your artwork. ISO references what film speed used to measure. The higher the number, the more sensitive the film was to light and the coarser the image. In this case, since we want very crisp images, we want a low ISO. Studio shots will generally be shot at ISO 100. The f-stop of the aperture of your camera adjusts how much light is let through the lens by making the opening bigger or smaller. The higher the number, the less light is being passed through. With a DSLR the ideal range for shooting artworks is between f-8 and f-11. Set your camera’s timer to four or five seconds so that pressing the shutter button doesn’t create a shake in your image.

4. Take the picture!

5. Place your artwork in front of a neutral background. You can achieve this by placing your artwork on a table pushed up against a wall or creating your own backdrop with a large piece of white paper/cardboard. The paper can be stuck on the wall with tape and the paper curved down to avoid a harsh horizontal line in the background. The aim is to create a background with minimal distractions. This can be done on the floor if your artwork is too large to photograph on a table.

6. Tip: Be aware of the lighting/shadows your artwork creates. Use lighting/shadow to your benefit. Some shadows may help give a sense of depth to your artwork while lighting can also highlight the materials and texture of your work.

For more information about photographing art see the Links Page under the More menu.