Photographing paintings?

cwoodard · October 1, 2009

I've been asked to photograph some paintings for my sister's MIL so she can sell them online. I really haven't the faintest idea what would be the best way to shoot them. I guess the key would be to avoid having the flash reflecting off it?

I have a Canon Rebel XSi, a 430ex speedlite, an Impact One Monolight softbox kit, a reflector, white/black/blue paper backdrop.

I think I'll have to travel to her house, so not sure it will be easy to bring along the softbox.

Would it be best to shoot for a nice day and take the photos outside in natural light?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Tim Kamppinen · October 2, 2009

cwoodard wrote:

I've been asked to photograph some paintings for my sister's MIL so she can sell them online. I really haven't the faintest idea what would be the best way to shoot them. I guess the key would be to avoid having the flash reflecting off it?

I have a Canon Rebel XSi, a 430ex speedlite, an Impact One Monolight softbox kit, a reflector, white/black/blue paper backdrop.

I think I'll have to travel to her house, so not sure it will be easy to bring along the softbox.

Would it be best to shoot for a nice day and take the photos outside in natural light?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Set up the softbox to one side of the painting, not at too much of an angle but just enough so that you don't get any reflections back towards your camera. The idea is that you put the light to one side, and the light reflects off at the same angle to the other side, instead of straight back towards your camera like would happen if you shot with an on camera flash. When I did this I used two umbrellas, one one each side, to evenly light the painting. You should be able to manage ok with one softbox, but set it up far enough away that you don't get extreme light falloff across the painting. You don't want one side visibly darker than the other. If the paintings are behind glass it might be a little more difficult because you'll have to make sure there are no light sources behind you, like a window or glass door, etc. If there are they will be reflected in the glass. I had to hang a black sheet up to cover a window the last (only) time I did this.

Tim Kamppinen · October 2, 2009

About taking them outside, if that's feasible it might work if you get them in open shade so the light is nice and even. Definitely use a tripod in either case so you can get them framed up well in the image. And take the time to get it just right in camera, because if your camera plane isn't parallel to the painting, it's going to look terrible if you try to crop it tightly in PS and the perspective is skewed. I learned this the hard way and had to mess around with the distortion correction stuff for a long time to try to get everything to look good on the edges.

cwoodard · October 2, 2009

Thank you very much for the tips - much appreciated!

jogle · October 12, 2009

Also shoot a greycard or colour card in the picture so you can give an accurate representation of the colour when converting from RAW.

It's easy enough to guess what a good looking white balance is for a photographic scene, but for a painting you want it correct.

pathfinder · October 12, 2009

Great point, James, I absolutely agree!!

eL eSs Vee · October 12, 2009

I did copy work for a lab I once worked in. The idea is to get the light as even as possible across the painting, because you need to show each one as close to original color, contrast and shade as possible. If you can get another light and some umbrellas or soft boxes, following the directions below will give you great results.

Start with the largest painting. Use a tripod and aim the camera at the exact center of the painting, adjusting the zoom (if that's what you're using) so that the painting almost fills the frame. Six to ten feet back is about best.

Place one light on each side of the camera, placed well outside the edge of the painting. (You can use umbrellas or soft boxes - I prefer umbrellas.) Stand at the edge of the painting, about as far back as the camera, and hold your hand at a 45 degree angle from your point of view. (You want them far enough back that they light the painting evenly.) Place the light at the end of your hand. (If you place the lights too close to the camera, you'll get light reflecting back within the area of the painting.) Aim each light to the opposite side of the painting from where it stands. Use the umbrella poles as a reference.

With the dome pointing straight out from the painting, take independent readings from at least different three locations on the painting; left, center and right. (I usually took nine or ten readings for large items: one at each corner, one at each side and one or two near the center.) DO NOT stand between any light and the painting while taking readings: Hold the meter at arms-length from the camera position to meter the center. Stand outside the lights at the edge for those readings. If all locations give you the same or very close reading (within 1/10th to 1/5th of a stop), you're good to go.

Once you get the lighting even, you can use the set-up for all of the paintings (which is why you start with the largest one). Adjust only the camera to aim at the center of each painting as they are hung. This should be nothing more than an up and down movement. DO NOT move the lights.

This can be done with hot lights, too, but you'll need to set the white balance. Do a custom, if you can.

Best of luck and I look forward to seeing your results.

digger2 · October 26, 2009

Tungsten
This was my first studio job 35 years ago! Try and put the subject square to the camera and at equal height. Lights either side.

Photographing paintings?

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