Shooting the Art – How to Shoot your Art V

July 14, 2009 | 2 Comments

Water Nymphs by B. Kelly-Goulem

1) Get that focus right: The most important aspect of everything you are doing in photographing your work is getting the focus right. Use the correct exposure and shutter speed as indicated on your handheld light meter or built in meter to get the right focus.

2) Experiment with your f-stop: Remember the lower the f-stop number (i.e., f/2.0) the closer and tighter the focal point will be measured in distance between your lens and the subject; the higher the f-stop number (i.e., f/22), the greater the depth of field you will be and the broader the area in focus will be. Experiment until you find the optimal range for your shot.

3) True colors & white balance: Set your white balance to ensure your colours are as true to life as you can get them. (This will be done automatically in most digital cameras in the auto mode, but it is worth your while to read your camera manual to learn how to set your own white balance – usually it entails nothing more than pushing a button or two and then you just shoot what looks good to you on your camera)

4) Low ISO: Keep in mind (if you are in manual mode) that the lower the ISO setting (i.e., 100) the sharper the image; the higher the ISO setting (i.e., 1600) the grainier the image will be appear. For shooting art, you want as sharp an image as possible.

5) Shoot and approve: Shoot the work and check your camera’s LCD for the focus by zooming into the captured image (go as far as 5xs if you can, or higher) to see in fine detail how sharp the image is. Scroll over the entire image to ensure focus is even and sharp throughout. If it isn’t, change your settings and try again. Keep trying until you get it right. If you can, output the first few shots into your computer where you can see more easily if the image is sharp or not and then make the necessary adjustments as required.

6) A range of options: Take at least three shots of each art piece, setting your exposure one higher, and one lower than the “correct” one as indicated by your light meter (either handheld or built into your camera) to give you choices when making your final selections.

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This piece, “Water Nymphs” by Bernie Kelly-Goulem was shot with two OPUS Pro OPL-K250 flash heads flanking the work, set to 1/8^th their maximum output using my Canon 5D Mark II camera with a 24-105 mm lens. Although the work itself is intentionally blurry in areas, you can see the focus is even and sharp throughout with enough detail to see the brush strokes and raised edges of the painting showing this artist’s technique of painting on torn papier mâché strips of paper glued to her canvas.

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