best film for artwork

[gilbert]

hello all-
i am going to be photographing artwork, mainly oil and chalk pastel
paintings. any recommendations on film? it needs to be as accurate as
possible in regards to the color.
gilbert

[Robert Monaghan]

see http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/film.html and art.html have related
links.

You have to start with your light source, if tungsten, indoors, 3200K?
if daylight? generally, you want as slow and fine grain a film as you
have light available. Slides give truest color rendition over variable
print film processing, but exposure more critical. Finally, check some of
the pop photo or similar photo mag reviews of films for examples of the
color casts of different films, or make your own tests with sample rolls
of each film and typical subject matter. in fact, you will probably find
some films do well on pastels (fuji) and others are preferred for strong
blacks.

Good luck - bobm

--
* Robert Monaghan POB752182 Dallas Tx 75275-2182 rmon...@post.cis.smu.edu *
* Bronica 6x6 medium format: http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/bronica.html site *
* Medium Format Cameras: http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/index.html megasite*

[gilbert]

i was thinking of using daylight and some flashes with slide film. which slide
film gives the strongest black and which would you recommend for pastels?
gilbert

[Bob Zwarick]

For "true" color, I'd look at KODAK E-100S.

Bob
'Never sign a thing, ask an Indian first.'

[Glenn Stewart (Arizona)]

gilbert wrote:

Gilbert,

For accurate rendition of pastel colors, I think you'll have a hard time
beating Fuji Astia, exposed at EI 80.

Best regards,

Stew
--
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The opinions expressed herein are mine, not those of Intel Corporation.

[Peter]

Bob Zwarick wrote:
>
> For "true" color, I'd look at KODAK E-100S.
>
> In article <36232490...@wenet.net>, agil...@wenet.net wrote:
> |i was thinking of using daylight and some flashes with slide film. which slide
> |film gives the strongest black and which would you recommend for pastels?
> |gilbert

The "S" on Kodak E-100S stands for saturated, which isn't "true" color.
For color that's truer than Kodak's E-100S try Kodak E-100 (EPN).

--
P.M.

[Bob Zwarick]

Have you tried copying artwork? Most film understates the color while
not reproducing it accurately. E-100S seems to handle both. I believe
it has something to do with E-100S ability to "see through
reflections".

I have no quarrel with your E-100 suggestion though.

Bob

Regards,
Bob
Smile, it takes less effort than frowning.

[Peter]

Bob Zwarick wrote:
>
> Have you tried copying artwork? Most film understates the color while
> not reproducing it accurately. E-100S seems to handle both. I believe
> it has something to do with E-100S ability to "see through
> reflections".
>
> I have no quarrel with your E-100 suggestion though.
>
> Bob

I've been copying artwork for 20 years. If polarizing filters are used
on the lens as well as on the lights there will not be any reflections
or glare, just the color in the painting.
In Kodak's Professional Photographic catalog it lists the suggested
applications for E100S as:
Advertising, Architecture, Catalog/product, Corporate/industrial,
Editorial, Fashion/glamour.
For EPN (E100) it lists:
Catalog/product, Architecture, Medical/scientific, Museum/art/copy.
I'm sure that E100S will produce beautiful copies of artwork, but the
original poster asked which film reproduces the color in artwork most
accurately, and EPN does a better job of accurately reproducing the
color in artwork.
--
P.M.

[gilbert]

peter- hello
i never thought to use a polarizer to reduce glare on paintings. great
idea. what do you mean by using a polarizing filter on the lights? i
never heard of this
i was planning on using 2 flashes on either side of the camera (and maybe
one on the camera) to light the paintings. i think flash will produce the
sharpest image. have you any experience with this or other type of
lights. which do you favor?
my first goal is to produce accurate representations of the painting, and
then to experiment with different quality light to see what i can do with
the paintings to create something a little different, and hopefully
"better" in some way. any thoughts about this experimental process before
i begin?
gilbert

[Peter]

gilbert wrote:
>
> peter- hello
> i never thought to use a polarizer to reduce glare on paintings. great
> idea. what do you mean by using a polarizing filter on the lights? i
> never heard of this
> i was planning on using 2 flashes on either side of the camera (and maybe
> one on the camera) to light the paintings. i think flash will produce the
> sharpest image. have you any experience with this or other type of
> lights. which do you favor?
> my first goal is to produce accurate representations of the painting, and
> then to experiment with different quality light to see what i can do with
> the paintings to create something a little different, and hopefully
> "better" in some way. any thoughts about this experimental process before
> i begin?
> gilbert

I use 2 strobe lights, each one positioned at 45 degree angles to the
painting. Don't use one on the camera because it will reflect right back
to the camera. You want the light to illuminate the painting and then
deflect away from the camera.
Polarizing filters on the lights are very important, especially when
shooting oil paintings. They completely eliminate the glare and
reflection from the raised brush strokes of oil paint. With watercolors
it's not as important, but still noticably effective in bringing out the
true color that's masked by glare.
I bought some sheets of polarizing material, made by Rosco, from
Calumet to use in front of the lights.
http://www.rosco.com/products/colorfilter/otherfilter/otherfilter.html
Make sure your lights are far enough away that the paintings get evenly
lit. I always measure the light with my light meter in all 4 corners and
the center of the painting.
One more thing, make sure that the film plane is completely square to
the plane of the painting or the painting will be distorted in the copy.
Good luck!
--
P.M.

[gilbert]

thanx for the opinions and information. i'm off to the races this week,
maybe in a few months i will let you all know how it turned out.
gilbert