Does anyone have ideas or suggestiions on the following:

1. Best camera and specs to buy to takes pics to paint, as well as to use to photograph my work?
2. What can I do/read to go from acrylics to oil...I am having a tough time with the transition,
Thanks for any help!
Rita Long

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Thank you so much for this info - I will furher research it.

Greatly appreciated.

Rita Long

I am doing some oils and actually LOVE it - freedom to play, blend and fix.  My concern is the slow drying time so now I am trying some additives.  I am going to the Hawaii workshop in Sept and want to use oils but also want my paintings to be dry enough to transport home. 

I did get info on a camera - seems like a REALLY good one and more than I want to spend.  Richard said most digital cameras are ok today.  I was hoping to spend notover $200 but still researching.

 

Will let you know what I find out. 

Rita Long

Hi Rita, I've got this article from Kevin MacPherson's website: 

How to Take Great Photos of Your Artwork

by Amy Jeynes

A painting seems as if it should be the easiest thing in the world to photograph, doesn‘t it? It’s flat. It’s right there in front of you. Unlike ships in a harbor, it doesn’t move. Unlike your kids, it doesn‘t blink or pout.

Alas, getting a decent photo of a painting–also known as a flat shot or a copy shot–isn’t as simple as it looks.

Bear with me for a comparison. I stink at bowling. When I bowl, the ball goes in a different direction every time, and I have no clue how to influence its path. Most of the time, I manage not to roll a gutter ball. On those rare occasions when I get a strike, it’s mostly by accident. Bowling frustrates me to no end. One thing is clear: Good bowlers know things I don’t.

It’s the same way with photography. You can buy a good camera and press the correct button, but if you don’t know the factors that affect the quality of the shot, your results will be unpredictable and the process will be aggravating.

So often, too, the need for an image arises suddenly. You’re eager to get feedback on a painting in progress, but first you have to get a decent photo of your canvas to post online. Or you’ve been asked to provide a digital photo of a painting to accompany a press release, and the newspaper editor needs it tomorrow… so, late in the evening, you spend a frustrating hour taking the photo and emailing it–only to find a curt reply the next morning: “This photo is not print quality; please send another one ASAP.”

Let’s put an end to all that, starting right now, with this checklist of the factors affecting shot quality and how to control them.

1. Control the Image Size.

For the purposes of this article, I’m going to assume that you already have a digital camera, and that you probably paid at least a hundred bucks for it, if not more. If your camera was purchased within the last five years, it can almost certainly produce a copy shot that’s good enough for uploading to the web, making a promotional postcard at an online service such as VistaPrint, or even printing alongside a press release in your local paper.

(If you’re purchasing new gear with the intent of producing top-quality copy shots, you’ll need advice that’s beyond the scope of this article. However, don‘t stop reading, because the tips to follow are still very relevant to you.)

Many cameras allow you to choose from three or more image sizes. Make sure you’re using the largest size or “fineness” setting the camera offers.

2. Control the Lighting.

First, you need enough light. A desk or floor lamp isn’t adequate. Sunlight outdoors is problematic because the sun is constantly changing in intensity, but if you don‘t need consistency across multiple shots, the sun will do in a pinch.

For the best results, though, you should use two 500-watt flood lamps, aimed at your painting at 45-degree angles so that their combined beams cover the entire painting (no dark corners!).

You can purchase inexpensive clamp-base fixtures and floodlight bulbs at home improvement stores and clamp them to two chairs or step stools.

If you need an extension cord for one or both of your lamps, it must be rated for at least 10 amps. Don’t risk an electrical fire by substituting a lesser cord!

Second, your painting must be lit by only one type, or color, of light. That means either the light from your flood lamps or sunshine, but not both. Even if your painting is well lit by the flood lamps, sunlight infiltrating the room from windows will ruin the shot. Either block the windows with heavy dark fabric, or shoot at night.

Be sure to disable the camera’s flash, also.

3. Control the Color.

You want your photo to be a true representation of the colors in your painting. It’s frustrating when the colors are off.

Half the battle is ensuring that you have only one type of light on your painting, as explained in the previous section. When the light is uniform, digital cameras generally do a very good job of compensating for any color cast in the light. (This adjustment feature is often called “automatic white balancing.”)

However, paintings can be unusual beasts to the eye of a camera. Their colors may be very different from those of the typical indoor and outdoor scenes for which cameras are designed.

To guarantee that your copy shot can be color-corrected with software if necessary, always include a “white chip” in the shot. Simply cut a piece of neutral white paper, mat board or foam core about 1″ x 2″ (perhaps larger if your paintings are large), and prop it alongside your painting. The white chip gives a newspaper’s prepress staffer or other print professional a way to detect if there’s a color cast and to fix it if there is one. If the white chip looks yellowish, an adjustment can be made in Adobe Photoshop or other software that makes the white look white, and in so doing makes all the other colors look truer, too. Once the color correction is done, the white reference chip is then cropped out.

Including a white chip in your copy shot is such an easy thing to do, and it makes color correction of your photo much easier. If you’d like to learn how to use Photoshop (or a similar free software package called The GIMP) to do this type of color correction yourself, let Linda know, and I can explain it to you.

3. Control Unwanted Vibration.

To eliminate shaky hands as a source of blurring in your photo, mount your camera on a tripod. Tripods need not be expensive. Get a tripod that allows you to tilt the camera forward and backward; that way, you can lean a painting against a wall and tilt the camera forward slightly so that the painting looks square in the viewfinder.

If you are unable to keep your hand steady when pressing the shutter button, use your camera’s time-delay shutter feature. With time delay enabled, you press the button, then take your hand away, and the camera takes the shot a few seconds later.

4. Control Lens Distortion.

All camera lenses have some degree of distortion, such as a slight “fisheye” effect. This distortion is most severe near the edges of the lens. Therefore, you want to frame your painting in the viewfinder with some space around the edges. Don’t attempt to make the painting fill the entire viewfinder. For the same reason, it’s better to keep your camera several feet away from the painting and zoom in to the desired framing rather than to position the camera close to the painting.

When framing your shot, remember to include a white chip alongside the painting, as described in tip 2!

There’s much more one can learn about taking great copy shots, but those three items are perhaps the most crucial and the least well understood. Nail down these techniques, and you’ll be well on your way to being able to take quick copy shots of your art with confidence.

Amy Jeynes has worked in publishing since 1993. As a print production coordinator, she spent hours peering through a magnifier at slides and color proofs of paintings. As an editor, she has coached dozens of artists on how to take high-quality photos of their artwork. Amy edited Kevin Macpherson’s book Landscape Painting Inside & Out (North Light Books). Currently, she writes and edits from her home in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can “friend” her on Facebook, or contact her at amy.jeynes@gmail.com.

Thank you,  i have much to read and learn....I submitted a quick attempt at Workshop 11 (myversion) but

had a bad time trying to get the picture to represent the painting.  Thanks so much, Aurelia!

holy Cow - I have been trying for hours to get a good shot of my painting...frustrating...but the article is greatly appreciaed and all other hints and guidance.  I better get some sleep and tackel the camera issue in the AM.  thanks, everyone!

 

Hi Rita,

Have you heard about the Walnut Alkyd Medium that helps your paints dry quicker?  Some artist's also use a white alkyd oil paint instead of the regular oil paint, to speed up the time drying.

I would recommend that you do some research in this area.  Here is a link.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/m-graham-walnut-alkyd-medium/

Hi, Patricia - I just got some of the walnut Alkyd medium.  Works well.  Thank you!

 

FYI - Regarding a camera - I decided on a lower cost camera after looking around and

asking lots of questions.  Seems I could spend thousands and have a great camera, but I

felt I would then be learning the art of photography and my learning to actually paint better would

suffer.  So - I settled on the Panasonic DMC-ZS19 with gGrman lenses by Leica.  Love it!

Used it without actually reading the manual yet (on Auto) and it takes fabulous pictures.  Costco had

it on sale for $249.  I can't wait to actually use the creative and custom settings to capture my paintings.

 

Steven - I shoudl have checked ebay....but I really needed to play with them and actually use them.

Costco has a 90 day return so I'll make sure it is a fit for the money.  Thanks!
 
Stephen Williamson said:

I just took a picture with a borrowed Sony Cybershot 7.2 MP that has sub-par reviews and it took an excellent picture as long as I took several pictures outside and adjusted to white balance a bit. I think that one could be bought for around $60 eBay.  A good point & shoot >10MP Canon Powershot for about $150 is what I'm looking for.

Getting soft white light seems as important as the camera. A light diffuser for direct sunlight would help. I read in a Texas Highways Magazine that the professional photographer took the great wildflower pics with a DIY diffuser made with a white sheet around a PVC frame.

My painting instructor recommended the Panasonic Lumix and I love it.  I was going to recommend it but you found it already!  It's worth the investment.  The battery life is awesome compared to my older Cybershot.

thanks - yes, it is a very good camera.  Still learning it!

Wow, Auralia,

This is soooo helpful.  I was trying to take the photos outdoors as one site suggested.  This will produce much better photos because the lighting will be controlled.  Will try and reshoot the painting and see how it works.

Ada

Aurelia Sieberhagen said:

Hi Rita, I've got this article from Kevin MacPherson's website: 

How to Take Great Photos of Your Artwork

by Amy Jeynes

A painting seems as if it should be the easiest thing in the world to photograph, doesn‘t it? It’s flat. It’s right there in front of you. Unlike ships in a harbor, it doesn’t move. Unlike your kids, it doesn‘t blink or pout.

Alas, getting a decent photo of a painting–also known as a flat shot or a copy shot–isn’t as simple as it looks.

Bear with me for a comparison. I stink at bowling. When I bowl, the ball goes in a different direction every time, and I have no clue how to influence its path. Most of the time, I manage not to roll a gutter ball. On those rare occasions when I get a strike, it’s mostly by accident. Bowling frustrates me to no end. One thing is clear: Good bowlers know things I don’t.

It’s the same way with photography. You can buy a good camera and press the correct button, but if you don’t know the factors that affect the quality of the shot, your results will be unpredictable and the process will be aggravating.

So often, too, the need for an image arises suddenly. You’re eager to get feedback on a painting in progress, but first you have to get a decent photo of your canvas to post online. Or you’ve been asked to provide a digital photo of a painting to accompany a press release, and the newspaper editor needs it tomorrow… so, late in the evening, you spend a frustrating hour taking the photo and emailing it–only to find a curt reply the next morning: “This photo is not print quality; please send another one ASAP.”

Let’s put an end to all that, starting right now, with this checklist of the factors affecting shot quality and how to control them.

1. Control the Image Size.

For the purposes of this article, I’m going to assume that you already have a digital camera, and that you probably paid at least a hundred bucks for it, if not more. If your camera was purchased within the last five years, it can almost certainly produce a copy shot that’s good enough for uploading to the web, making a promotional postcard at an online service such as VistaPrint, or even printing alongside a press release in your local paper.

(If you’re purchasing new gear with the intent of producing top-quality copy shots, you’ll need advice that’s beyond the scope of this article. However, don‘t stop reading, because the tips to follow are still very relevant to you.)

Many cameras allow you to choose from three or more image sizes. Make sure you’re using the largest size or “fineness” setting the camera offers.

2. Control the Lighting.

First, you need enough light. A desk or floor lamp isn’t adequate. Sunlight outdoors is problematic because the sun is constantly changing in intensity, but if you don‘t need consistency across multiple shots, the sun will do in a pinch.

For the best results, though, you should use two 500-watt flood lamps, aimed at your painting at 45-degree angles so that their combined beams cover the entire painting (no dark corners!).

You can purchase inexpensive clamp-base fixtures and floodlight bulbs at home improvement stores and clamp them to two chairs or step stools.

If you need an extension cord for one or both of your lamps, it must be rated for at least 10 amps. Don’t risk an electrical fire by substituting a lesser cord!

Second, your painting must be lit by only one type, or color, of light. That means either the light from your flood lamps or sunshine, but not both. Even if your painting is well lit by the flood lamps, sunlight infiltrating the room from windows will ruin the shot. Either block the windows with heavy dark fabric, or shoot at night.

Be sure to disable the camera’s flash, also.

3. Control the Color.

You want your photo to be a true representation of the colors in your painting. It’s frustrating when the colors are off.

Half the battle is ensuring that you have only one type of light on your painting, as explained in the previous section. When the light is uniform, digital cameras generally do a very good job of compensating for any color cast in the light. (This adjustment feature is often called “automatic white balancing.”)

However, paintings can be unusual beasts to the eye of a camera. Their colors may be very different from those of the typical indoor and outdoor scenes for which cameras are designed.

To guarantee that your copy shot can be color-corrected with software if necessary, always include a “white chip” in the shot. Simply cut a piece of neutral white paper, mat board or foam core about 1″ x 2″ (perhaps larger if your paintings are large), and prop it alongside your painting. The white chip gives a newspaper’s prepress staffer or other print professional a way to detect if there’s a color cast and to fix it if there is one. If the white chip looks yellowish, an adjustment can be made in Adobe Photoshop or other software that makes the white look white, and in so doing makes all the other colors look truer, too. Once the color correction is done, the white reference chip is then cropped out.

Including a white chip in your copy shot is such an easy thing to do, and it makes color correction of your photo much easier. If you’d like to learn how to use Photoshop (or a similar free software package called The GIMP) to do this type of color correction yourself, let Linda know, and I can explain it to you.

3. Control Unwanted Vibration.

To eliminate shaky hands as a source of blurring in your photo, mount your camera on a tripod. Tripods need not be expensive. Get a tripod that allows you to tilt the camera forward and backward; that way, you can lean a painting against a wall and tilt the camera forward slightly so that the painting looks square in the viewfinder.

If you are unable to keep your hand steady when pressing the shutter button, use your camera’s time-delay shutter feature. With time delay enabled, you press the button, then take your hand away, and the camera takes the shot a few seconds later.

4. Control Lens Distortion.

All camera lenses have some degree of distortion, such as a slight “fisheye” effect. This distortion is most severe near the edges of the lens. Therefore, you want to frame your painting in the viewfinder with some space around the edges. Don’t attempt to make the painting fill the entire viewfinder. For the same reason, it’s better to keep your camera several feet away from the painting and zoom in to the desired framing rather than to position the camera close to the painting.

When framing your shot, remember to include a white chip alongside the painting, as described in tip 2!

There’s much more one can learn about taking great copy shots, but those three items are perhaps the most crucial and the least well understood. Nail down these techniques, and you’ll be well on your way to being able to take quick copy shots of your art with confidence.

Amy Jeynes has worked in publishing since 1993. As a print production coordinator, she spent hours peering through a magnifier at slides and color proofs of paintings. As an editor, she has coached dozens of artists on how to take high-quality photos of their artwork. Amy edited Kevin Macpherson’s book Landscape Painting Inside & Out (North Light Books). Currently, she writes and edits from her home in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can “friend” her on Facebook, or contact her at amy.jeynes@gmail.com.

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