Photographing your ArtWork

Equipment

1. Use a 35mm single lens reflex (SLR) camera with manual adjustments and a 50-55mm lens.
2. Use a sturdy tripod that will tilt and rotate.
3. Shoot with two or three 500-watt photofloods with reflectors as your only light source. Do not mix with any other lights.
4. For vertical work, drape a large black cloth on the wall to minimize reflections. If your shooting on a tabletop, you can use a 4x4' sheet of white or gray Formica or a seamless roll of paper.
Shooting
1. The first most important step is to match your film to your light source. If you're shooting with flash or in daylight, Kodak EPN is a good choice for its neutral balance. Use a tungsten-balanced film like Fuji RTP 64T with photofloods, household-type lights or track lighting.
2. Buy your film from a professional photo supplier. Professional film is usually stored in a fridge or walk in cooler.
3. Test your film and lighting conditions so that you can predict the results the next time around.
4. Control the lighting as much as possible. Take note of the area that you plan to photograph in. Can you turn off fluorescent lights? Can you block out windows that may affect your lighting? If you can't block the windows, shoot at night. Avoid using on-camera flash.
5. Shooting outside is unpredictable but if you must, shoot in mid afternoon with a daylight-balanced film. Avoid direct sunlight, a slightly overcast day is best or shoot in the open shade. You may need a warming filter like an 81A, B or C on the lens as the light tends to be cool in the shade.
6. Instead of adding another light, use a "bounce card" (white foam core) to reflect light back into your art. This works well on small sculpture.
Miscellaneous
1. Center the artwork in the camera and fill the frame as much as possible. Since you can't always fill the frame without cropping your work, choose a clean background, as it will be seen in the slide.
2. Photograph your work during a gallery show. Use the gallery lighting to supplement your own lights. If possible, adjust the gallery lights for your photographs.
3. Take your film to a professional lab for processing.
Avoid...
1. Shooting your work framed behind glass. If you have no other choice, drape a large black cloth behind and around the camera.
2. Your lights reflecting in the camera. Look directly into the lens for this and place a black card between the lens and the lights to block out the reflection.
3. If you're using the lights in a gallery and the lights are on a dimmer switch, do not dim the lights, dimmed lights are too warm and your slides will have a yellow cast.