Lighting – How to Shoot your Art VI

July 14, 2009 | 2 Comments

© DallasArtsRevue.com photo by J R Compton

1) Use natural light: The easiest (least expensive) set-up is to use naturally available light (i.e., the sun). The best time to shoot would be on an overcast or cloudy day (though not rainy) and if you can set your work(s) up under a white canopy to diffuse the light, even better. Setting up a canopy in the garden if you have one and shooting under that will provide further diffusion of light (i.e., softening of light). The best time will be either 10 am or around 2 pm depending on where you live on an evenly cloudy overcast day. Avoid shooting at high noon, as the shadows cast will be too hard.

2) No flash please: Using the built in flash on any point-and-shoot camera is not recommended. If you are using an SLR with an adjustable flash head where you can bounce the light, you can try it out but you may have difficulty getting even light dispersion across the full surface of the work you are photographing. Better to use two flash heads on stands reflecting into umbrellas or through softboxes positioned on either side of the work giving a uniform coverage of light across the work’s surface.

3) White light: As there are many possible lighting products to choose or use I will avoid referencing specific types of lighting. Essentially, you want to use a single white light source (or two lights casting a uniform light) to prevent modifying the color of your artwork.

4) Spread the light: If you have access to strobe flashes you can use at least two flashes with reflector umbrellas, placing each at the same level as the artwork and the camera. Your goal is to spread the light evenly across the surface of your artwork so that all areas of the art (right, center and left) receive the same amount of light.

5) And measure it: If you have a light meter, measure the light from the right, center and left sides of the work to get a reading equal for all three.

6) Control it: If you are using a light set up indoors, be sure that no other light is leaking into your readings (windows, overhead lights etc).

7) Move that couch: Be aware of the color of large items around your set up (walls, ceilings, big couches, etc). Color shifts in your final image may be caused by color casts from these. If you detect them, either move your set up or correct the image in post processing.

8 ) Look out for shadows: Check your LCD screen often to see that the lighting is as you want it to be. You are trying to minimize unwanted shadows (you may want some shadows to show brush strokes, for example) and other visual distortions. Move the lights further or closer from the work, or adjust their output till you get the lighting effect exactly how you want it. (Keep in mind that the LCD screen on your camera will make your image look sharper as it shows the image at a higher contrast than is really there).

9) Humans are not machines: How we see light as humans and how cameras see light as machines is not the same. Our brains adjust to automatically “correct” lighting in ways cameras do not. This is why it is important to check your images on your LCD and computer screen to be sure you are capturing the lighting you expect and not assuming that because it looks good to your eye it will look good as an image. Viewing on the camera’s LCD will make it easier to read the evenness of the light. Use the histogram view if you know how to read one. A good one should look like the image at the beginning of this post.

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Lighting – How to Shoot your Art VI

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