photographing art
Joy Waranyuwat
before of course. and i know that i should use a studio/etc., but some of
my things are *extremely* huge (as in 10 x 16 feet) and some are also
framed. is there a way to prevent glares? and the photo studio for my
university's pretty big, but not enormous. i'm trying to take photos of my
artwork for my portfolio to apply to grad school, so i was hoping to get the
best quality possible. also, any tips on developing color? i haven't been
able to take a color photo class yet (or maybe not at all).
thanks.
Joy Waranyuwat
"Joy Waranyuwat" <wara...@uiuc.edu> wrote in message
news:Y_319.7272$m7.7...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu...
sorry...sorta off the topic (people), but i figured someone here would know.
:)
zeitgeist
I am sure there are books in the library about copying photos and art, I'll
bet none deal with anything larger than poster size.
professionals that specialize in art copy use polarized light sources along
with a filter on the lens to eliminate nearly all glare. They light from
four sides at a 45' angle. They use a large format camera to capture as
much detail as possible, usually with a flat field lens, which means that
the plain of focus is as flat as the usual copy and not arc'd. Usually a
technique called pre-flashing is used which is a method of controlling
contrast they expose the film with specific amounts light to deliberately
fog of the film.
Question, is your art textured in any way, paint strokes, stippling
whatever? if the art is very flat it could be possible to photograph in the
sun without microshadows effecting the colors, with minimal spectral
highlights on the sun side. Set up so the art is at an angle to the sun.
You have a more difficult time making sure your camera is perpendicular the
work. but paint can have a shininess about it, and each textured brush
stroke or bump or whatever will have a sparkly highlight and a shadow,
watercolors are often rippled even slightly and that can have an effect.
Can you set it up in a windowless room? You could tripod the camera, and
use a flash you can set off with a button. Have a friend stand with the
camera and a black card to hold over the lens while you 'paint with light.'
with a regular copy stand set up you have four lamps at four corners to
light the entire piece evenly, so one side nor up or down gets any more
light than the other. with a flash you could do the same thing, stand on
the far right and aim at the left side of the piece and flash, you could
hold the flash up high and then down low. Each time you tell your assistant
to unblock the lens, flash and cover.
you will have to adjust your exposure. four flashes is two stops, 8
flashes is 3 stops,(square root principle) and you would be wise to bracket
your exposures. If you use a battery flash you should wait twice as long
as it takes to recharge as those damn ready lights tend to come on when the
thing is 2/3rds charged.
do a test roll, perhaps a set with each different method you may have to
use, the large room and multiflash, outside with sun at a 45' angle, etc.
what kind of camera are you going to use? 35mm? 4x5?
as for the tips on developing color, yeah, take it to a pro lab. seriously,
inconsistency in color processing will totally screw up what you are trying
to do. one degree difference, improper agitation, and your colors are off
to outright weird. I consider pro lab developing a reasonable bargain.
and I'm considering that your school may have a lab with large tanks, water
bath temp control and nitrogen burst agitation. most likely they have a
water tank and some stainless steel reels and light tight tubes, especially
for slide film. btw, the photo dept or art department may have a copy
stand to use with your smaller pieces.
rec.photo.technique.misc is probably the group you were looking for.
Joy Waranyuwat
"zeitgeist" <blkhat...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8L519.706139$cQ3.110457@sccrnsc01...
> what kind of camera are you going to use? 35mm? 4x5?
4x5. i don't have much texture in my paintings. they're all oil paintings
of the renaissance style. thanks a lot though! this helped a lot.
hogarth
To photograph a big piece of art, you have to light it evenly, and control
reflections. How to do that is more than can easily be written in a newsgroup
posting. There is a great source though:
Light Science & Magic by Hunter and Fuqua
Highly recommended. You can read it in a day or two. For your efforts you'll
find that all your lighting endeavors, photographic and painting, are much more
easily solved.
Leen Koper
"zeitgeist" <blkhat...@yahoo.com> schreef in bericht
news:8L519.706139$cQ3.110457@sccrnsc01...
>
>
> > can anyone tell me the best way to photograph art?
> Question, is your art textured in any way, paint strokes, stippling
> whatever? if the art is very flat it could be possible to photograph in
the
> sun without microshadows effecting the colors, with minimal spectral
> highlights on the sun side. Set up so the art is at an angle to the sun.
> You have a more difficult time making sure your camera is perpendicular
the
> work. but paint can have a shininess about it, and each textured brush
> stroke or bump or whatever will have a sparkly highlight and a shadow,
> watercolors are often rippled even slightly and that can have an effect.
I 'm doing this kind of work on a regular base for a local art gallery.
It is not the best way, that's with polarized light, but the results are
pretty good. At least good enough to be used for ads in classy art
magazines.
Instead of full sun I always prefer an overcast sky, the largest softbox you
can imagine. Turn the painting a little towards the direction of the light
and use a polarizer on your lens to eliminate a lot of reflections from the
sky. This always works. The results are 95% quality for 5% of the price of
perfection.
>
> as for the tips on developing color, yeah, take it to a pro lab.
seriously,
> inconsistency in color processing will totally screw up what you are
trying
> to do. one degree difference, improper agitation, and your colors are off
> to outright weird. I consider pro lab developing a reasonable bargain.
> and I'm considering that your school may have a lab with large tanks,
water
> bath temp control and nitrogen burst agitation. most likely they have a
> water tank and some stainless steel reels and light tight tubes,
especially
> for slide film. btw, the photo dept or art department may have a copy
> stand to use with your smaller pieces.
You definitely need a pro lab. Include a color chart in your image as a
reference for the printer and most of your problems will be solved without
any hassle.
>
> rec.photo.technique.misc is probably the group you were looking for.
>
>
Leen Koper
www.fotografieleenkoper.nl
Joshua Putnam
blkhat...@yahoo.com writes:
>I am sure there are books in the library about copying photos and art, I'll
>bet none deal with anything larger than poster size.
Kodak's _Copying and Duplicating in Black-and-White and Color_
does address photographing large oil paintings and other art
works, with information on lighting, avoiding glare, getting the
texture right, color balance, etc. Publication M-1 if I remember
correctly.
--
jo...@phred.org is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Updated Infrared Photography Books List:
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/irbooks.html>
Robert Monaghan
see http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/art.html hth bobm
--
* Robert Monaghan POB752182 So. Methodist Univ., Dallas Tx 75275 *
* Third Party 35mm Lenses: http://medfmt.8k.com/third/index.html *
* Medium Format Cameras: http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/index.html *
Michael Quack
Joy Waranyuwat says...
> can anyone tell me the best way to photograph art?
Studio flash in a black environment.
Two flash heads of identical power, pointing at 45 degrees
towards the middle of the piece of art from both sides.
They must be in a distance of at least the diagonal length of
the painting away from the middle, more does not hurt.
Use barn doors, flags, other grip equipment to make sure
the light only hits the painting and not the camera, the
tripod, yourself or anything else in the room.
Adjust the two flash heads in order to both dispense
exactly the same amount of light. If they have a nice
even characteristic, standard reflectors perform well,
often much better than softboxes with polarizer filters.
Position Kodak color control and grayscale patches
(Q13 or Q14) and a gray card next to your painting
for postprocessing reference.
> and i know that i should use a studio/etc.,
That would be best. If you have no dedicated studio, you
might as well drape black velvet or black stage cloth
over all walls.
> but some of my things are *extremely* huge (as in 10 x 16 feet)
No problem as long as the room is big enough that you
don't need to use a wide angle.
> and some are also framed.
Framed with glass, is possibly what you wanted to say.
> is there a way to prevent glares?
Sure. Eliminate all reflections from anything else in
the room.
> and the photo studio for my university's pretty big,
> but not enormous.
If you can put the paintings against one wall, and still
have the complete painting in the finder from the back of
the room, it should be enough. If not, why not just cheaply
rent an empty warehouse for a night?
> i'm trying to take photos of my artwork for my portfolio
> to apply to grad school, so i was hoping to get the
> best quality possible. also, any tips on developing color?
Have a pro lab do the job. If you never did it before,
it will take you too long to learn now.
--
Michael Quack <mic...@photoquack.de>
Michael Quack
zeitgeist says...
> I am sure there are books in the library about
> copying photos and art, I'll bet none deal with
> anything larger than poster size.
The technique is basically the same.
> professionals that specialize in art copy use polarized
> light sources along with a filter on the lens to eliminate
> nearly all glare.
Only if the surface is structured like in certain oil painting
techniques. On paint which is applied flat without protruding
paint heaps or even peaks this is rather uncritical.
> They light from four sides at a 45' angle.
Only with yery large paintings. 10 x 15 ft. can easily be done
with just two lamps.
> They use a large format camera to capture as much detail
> as possible,
This depends on the output target. It would be stupid to use
a view camera when you are aiming for newspaper or magazine
print in rather small print sizes.
> usually with a flat field lens, which means that
> the plain of focus is as flat as the usual copy and not arc'd.
There are special reproduction lenses for view cameras,
with medium format and 35 mm macro lenses are the tool
to choose.
> Usually a technique called pre-flashing is used which is
> a method of controlling contrast they expose the film with
> specific amounts light to deliberately fog of the film.
This is history, modern film doesn't need that anymore,
not even mentioning that most of todays art reproductions
are done digitally.
> Question, is your art textured in any way, paint strokes,
> stippling whatever?
That would ask for polarized light.
> if the art is very flat it could be possible to photograph
> in the sun without microshadows effecting the colors, with
> minimal spectral highlights on the sun side.
But reflections from the environment often spoil the colors.
> You could tripod the camera, and use a flash you can set
> off with a button.
This leaves too much open to chance. I would always suggest
to have the flash heads on stands and synced together.
> with a regular copy stand set up you have four lamps at
> four corners to light the entire piece evenly,
Two should be enough, as long as the flash heads are aiming
at the center of the picture in an angle of 45 degrees at
no less distance than the diagonal length of the painting.
> with a flash you could do the same thing, stand on
> the far right and aim at the left side of the piece and flash,
No, you always aim at the center in order to compensate
possible uneven reflector characteristics.
> Each time you tell your assistant
> to unblock the lens, flash and cover.
That will almost certainly go along with very slight
movements of the tripod between flashes, and even more
likely in stray light.
--
Michael Quack <mic...@photoquack.de>
Michael Quack
hogarth says...
> To photograph a big piece of art, you have to light it
> evenly, and control reflections. How to do that is more
> than can easily be written in a newsgroup
> posting.
Aw, come on, it's not rocket science.
--
Michael Quack <mic...@photoquack.de>