looking for tips on photographing oil paintings

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SilverNodashi

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Hi all,

An artist friend asked me to take photos of her art, for her portfolio and also to send the photos to galleries around the county.

I'm looking for some tips on photographing oil, and some are acrylic paintings, as I have never done this. My equipment consists of a Canon 30D, 50mm 2.8 prime lens, Canon 430EX II speedlight and Lambency Diffuser, and a tripod. What else do, would I need? I also have a Sigma 70-300mm lens, but doubt if this will be used?

One problem that I see, is that the paintings are framed with glass, which will probably cause glare - how do I get around this, without taking the frames off?


Any other tips / hints?
 
Get yourself a copy of light, science and magic. They document well how to use light well to get good images and there are examples of making images of wall mounted art. Get your friend to buy you the book as a present for taking the photos.
 
If they are framed with glass, and you want to shoot them head-on, on camera flash is out. If you want to trigger a flash/flashes off camera (to the side) and the paintings are on a wall, you would need more than one flash to minimize the nasty shadows on the wall, caused by the frame.

I would use the prime on a tripod in ambient light. No flash...
 
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Gargmel said:
Flash photography is very bad for oil paintings.
Click to expand...

Isn't it a matter of how the flash is used? From my limited knowledge, if you light the painting such that the camera is out of the angle of direct reflection, then it should be fine. Also by lighting the painting correctly you could pick up textures created the paint, canvas and brush strokes.

I could be totally wrong... only know the theory. Haven't lit an oil painting myself.
 
Quantum Theory said:
I would use the prime on a tripod in ambient light. No flash...
Click to expand...

Ditto, but some experimentation might be a good idea. You want the ambient light to be 'natural' and you don't want the painting's true colours contaminated by light.

I also aouldn't be surprised if your zoom lens actually came in handy. If your camera is positioned very close to the painting, you will get noticable 'rounding' of the edges of the painting on your photo and it might be a problem if you're trying to take a full-frame photo without any distortion. The problem will be less if you're a little further away and taking the picture with the camera in the center of both the x-y plane of the painting.

Oh, and have a look at this recourse:

http://www.betterphoto.com/exploring/shootingPaintings.asp

Juice
 
I'm lazy - I'd set up my camera on a tripod and aim it at the ground and light the area with a couple of clip lights.
 
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