DIGITAL CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS
- Hang your work on the wall. Find a neutral coloured wall (white or grey) and hang your work at the height where the middle of your piece will be parallel to where your camera is pointing – either on a tripod or sitting on a hard surface, such as a shelf or table.
2. Light your work. If shooting indoors, make sure you shoot in a room with plenty of windows and natural light. Avoid direct sunlight on your artwork as this may create glare and affect the colours of your photograph. You can light your work with lamps. For 2D works, all you need is two lights. (Preferably using Daylight bulbs). Place the lights halfway between the camera and your work on the wall at a 45-degree angle pointing towards the wall (this angle will help eliminate any glare you might get from the lights). If you are still experiencing glares from the lights – you can diffuse the lights with white sheets in front of them. See image for camera placement.
3. Once your artwork is hung on the wall and lit with lamps, double check that the camera is set to where the lens lines up with the middle of the painting. The artwork should take up the majority of the frame in your picture. The ISO and aperture of your camera are very important to get clear, crisp and bright images of your artwork. In this case, since we want very crisp images, we want a low ISO. Studio shots will generally be shot at ISO 100. The f-stop of the aperture of your camera adjusts how much light is let through the lens by making the opening bigger or smaller. The higher the number, the less light is being passed through. With a DSLR the ideal range for shooting artworks is between f-8 and f-11. Set your camera’s timer to four or five seconds so that pressing the shutter button doesn’t create a shake in your image.
#NOTE Look up specific instructions for your Camera or Smart Phone for step 3
4. Take the picture!
WATCH THIS VIDEO!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQmt8y9V6wc&ab_channel=PaulRichmond
Photo editing app demonstrated in this video that you can download: Snapseed