Photos of Artwork: A How To

Just for fun I thought I’d share with you how I take photos of my artwork. (Disclaimer: The photos I’m sharing here were taken with my cell phone and would not be the ones I’d submit for shows, etc.!) Since I’ve set my website up to have all the images on a black background that is how I always photograph them. Occasionally I’ll do them on both black and white backgrounds if one just really needs the white to look good. I don’t keep my photography backdrops, stands, etc. set up in the studio so I pretty much drape the black cloth over whatever I can find. Depending on the size of the art I’m photographing some creativity might be needed to get it large enough to surround the artwork. Here’s ares pictures from this morning showing both the front & back of the set up.

As you can tell from the shot of the back this is one of those “creative” set ups since a few of the pieces were over three foot tall. As long as it works no one (normally) sees how it’s put together so who cares? I placed it up on the table so I wouldn’t be bending over so much to get the pics, plus there was more available light coming in through the windows & doors at that height. Unless it’s a late-night desperate situation I prefer to take these shots with natural window light instead of room lights or using a flash. Today was cloudy out so it was perfect conditions…not too dark but no hot spot of sun shining in to deal with.   Here is a pic of a new art piece sitting in the photo area:

 

Doesn’t look too spectacular at this point but, as I said earlier, this was taken with my cell phone so I didn’t have a lot of control over the amount of light, etc. that was being captured.

One of the hardest parts of photographing square or rectangle images is to get the perspective correct so they actually look like squares or rectangles. Aiming your camera at the center of the piece and keeping it parallel with the artwork helps a lot, plus just being aware of that it’s not skewed when you shoot helps too. (Multiple shots up the odds as well!) If all else fails you can straighten while you’re making adjustments to the image with your computer, but that’s extra work so I try to get mine lined up correctly when shooting.

This final image was still on the cell phone but was taken closely to the art and then I also tweaked the lighting/color in photoshop before I uploaded it here. It’s an improvement over the previous image!

currently untitled, mixed media art (carved wood, painted stones, driftwood, paint) on 6×16″ wood panel © Lynne Medsker

The one taken on my Nikon will be even better than this! Since this is a semi-flat (it hangs on the wall, anyhow!) piece of art with black borders on it I didn’t care that it blended right into the black background. With more dimensional pieces I try to place them with a space between them and background to help emphasis the depth and give them some separation.

So that’s that…

I’ll be sharing more new work as I get a chance, heck I’ve still got a couple of pieces from this summer I haven’t gotten on the blog yet.

Busy, busy,

Lynne

Photo Talk: Lighting

I recently presented a class to a group about photography.  As I was gathering notes & ideas I realized maybe this would be something interesting to share on my blog.  (Or not, I guess you can decide!)  I’ll pop a “Photo Talk” post up from time to time and see how it goes.  For today I thought I’d talk a little bit about lighting.  One definition of photography is “the process of recording images on sensitized material by the action of light” so without light, there would actually be no photography!  There are many different types of light sources, both natural & artificial, that can influence the outcome of your photos – for better or worse!  The most natural source of light for a photo is from the sun and that’s what we’ll talk about today.  The sun’s light can vary due to the time of day, the season, and the weather.  Using these different variations can give you a wide option of outcomes.  Photographers talk of the “sweet light” that comes just as the sun is rising and again as the sun is lower in the evening sky.  It normally has a warm glow to it and will light your subject without casing harsh shadows or making bright highlights.  In landscape and nature photography some very beautiful and dramatic images can be created, you know the type that make us say “ooh” and “aah!”

sunrise image (c) Lynne Medsker

sunset/moonrise (c) Lynne Medsker

sunset image (c) Lynne Medsker

Yes, I’m a sucker for those sunrise & sunset photos just like everyone else! I’ve attended many photography workshops where we rose in the darkness of the pre-dawn hours to travel to our photography location, captured images until the sun was full then did the reverse in the evening as the sun would set.  Meals, instruction and other agendas were scheduled during the “off time” when the sun was high in the sky or gone for the day.  That works wonderfully for workshops but, in real life, our activities and schedule tend to include the mid-day hours!   One idea for working with the sun is to use indirect or diffused lighting.  This can be achieved in many different ways.  Days that are cloud-filled (but not too dark!) make for naturally diffused light. Other elements that might be available are trees & buildings.  By placing your subject in the shade of a tree or building in what is termed “open shade” you are blocking the direct light but still have enough of the sun’s rays being reflected and filtered to light your subject.

Portrait sample with diffused lighting on a sunny day (c) Lynne Medsker

This works well with portraits, not so well with objects that can’t be “placed” somewhere!   With plants, trees, architecture and other “permanent” objects there are other methods of gaining the light you want to have.  Obviously the first is just to wait for the sun to lower, but that’s not always practical.  Sometimes moving to a different side of your subject will give you different lighting that is more agreeable.  Backlighting can make for an interesting and dramatic presentation!

backlighting on a bright sunny day (c) Lynne Medsker

backlight/silhouette image (c) Lynne Medsker

Another trick is to just “make” a little shade for your subject!  You can use your body to block the path of the sun’s rays, a jacket, an umbrella or there are “professional” diffusers that you can purchase as well. This is easier with small items and close up shots unless you have a willing assistant that can help.  Here are two versions of sunflowers where you can see the difference diffused light makes!

Sunflower, full sun/hard light (c) Lynne Medsker

Sunflower, shade/diffused light (c) Lynne Medsker

If you can adjust the amount of light that hits your subject you can also use natural light to highlight a specific part of your photo for greater emphasis.  These images show how light can make a part of your photo “pop” –

highlighted flower (c) Lynne Medsker

highlighted spider & web (c) Lynne Medsker

When none of the ideas listed above work then it’s time to think about how you can make the sun and hard shadows work for you instead of against you.  There are times that I purposely use the bright rays to highlight and emphasize the texture, contour and depth of my subject.  This details in this cactus wouldn’t look nearly as dramatic without the shadows!

Cactus in "hard" light (c) Lynne Medsker

The shadows on this metal sculpture add to the interest of the composition and highlight the curves and shapes of the piece, it even shows details about the sculpture that aren’t shown in the photo.

Sculpture with "hard" lighting/shadows (c) Lynne Medsker

For portrait images shadows can help tell stories.  Although this image doesn’t show their faces you know that this mother & daughter are spending some relaxed time outdoors taking a leisurely evening walk.  The highlights around their hair help separate them from the background and the long shadows emphasis the subjects as well as define the time of day.

"evening stroll" (c) Lynne Medsker

This image tells the entire story with just the shadow!  I was out during a photo class one afternoon and saw my shadow cast on this wooden retaining wall.  Again, although it doesn’t show my face you can tell many things about me just by my shadow. Can you tell I like earrings that dangle?

"self portrait" (c) Lynne Medsker

One thing it may or may not tell you is that I prefer not to have my picture taken!  (I think that’s true of may of us who stay behind the camera instead of in front!) This was a fun way to indirectly capture my image.

Do you notice how the sun lights the objects in your world? How do you use the sun’s rays to add drama, interest, story-telling to your photos? Pay attention to these details and see if your photography skills improve!

Eyes wide open,

Lynne