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Taking pictures of paintings

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Brian Edmonds writes:

I am trying to take pictures of paintings in my studio. I am having trouble with hot spots and dead spots. I have tried angling the lights but I get a little of both. I am using a canon digital camera that allows for changing settings but only has the snapshot flash. I would also like to take these digital pictures and turn them into slides. I know there are companies that do this do you have any suggestions?

I have read your blog entries but do not know which suggestion applies to me. I am an amateur photographer but I can usually manipulate things enough to get by. My studio has natural light fluorescent bulbs. Should I try to use these lights in combo with the angled lights or should I try to use only the angled lights?
Thank you in advance.

Truly frustrated,

Brian Edmonds

Hi Brian,

Taking pictures of paintings is a tricky subject. While it looks simple when thinking of it, going into the practical setup can be rather tricky.

There are a few setups you can use to take picture of painting. I think that the easiest way is to take your pictures out side to a shady location and take the shots.

If you insist on taking the shots in a studio (and I can see a few reasons for insisting so) here are my recommendations.

  1. Use a tripod. Even if you are using a flash, and can go to high shooting speeds, using a tripod will help you verify that your camera is completely parallel to the painting.
  2. You can use the setup up suggested in the diagram below. It has two strobes with umbrellas. If you don’t have two strobes you can use continuous lighting, just make sure you use the correct white balance – use a gray card.
    I have left angle "A" as a "variable" as it depends on the size of your painting. For small painting I’d go with "traditional" 45 degrees. For larger paintings I’d use a wider angle. When playing around with angles make sure that the strobes are not angled too wide. This will cause the light to skim your painting, reducing brightness and creating uneven lighting (brighter on the edges). Also make sure that both strobes are set t the same output levels and positioned in the same distance from the painting.

Best of Luck,

Udi

 

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DIY – Continuous Ink Systems

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Some how, back in February of 2006, I found out about Continuous Ink Systems (CIS) and begin my search. I came across a man selling what I deemed to be a good system to try on E-Bay, and through a few emails, discovered he lived just up the street from me. I bought my first CIS from him within a week.

A CIS supplies “phony” cartridges with ink continuously from large reservoirs out side the printer with silicon tubing. The average home printer cartridge holds only 8-15ml of ink, and the CIS I bought comes pre loaded with 100ml of ink in each color container. That’s a lot of cartridges worth of ink!

DIY – Cheap Mini Monopod

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Looks like 1/4″ bolts are very useful. They have been attached to bottle caps and to wires to create several type of DIY tripods. here is another great project for an owner of 1/4″ bolts. Here is another idea by Christian Kahle:

Based on what the Pop bottle cap camera holder, I built the MiniMonoPod (MMP).

I found that it is just amazing useful when handling smaller cameras. As my Cannon XTi has little or no grip space on the left hand it made it hard to hold on to it securely, especially with cold fingers. Now with the MMP fingers are together so they stay warmer. It’s easier to hold on to the camera with a larger lens with the left hand. And right handed people can use their right hand to do stuff and still maintain a strong grip on the camera with the left hand.

Photography Project – A Burning Light Bulb

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Bulbs, lots of bulbs. This is what you need if you are going to do this project. In the picture you see the bulb’s filament’s burning, isn’t it a pretty site. For all you pyro’s out there, this is yet another thing you can burn.

And if you can take a picture of this little fire, why not.

So here is The Full Guide for Photographing a Burning Light Bulb – have fun!

DIY: The Super-Small Bottle-Cap Tripod

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When you are going on a field trip, you want your tripod to be small. Small and light. It would be best if it can fit in your pocket. When Ron Uriel saw the post about the wrap-able tripod, he had an idea. Why not use the 1/4″ bolts in other ways. He told me about an idea to make a small tripod from a coke bottle.

This sounded like an interesting idea so I got to work. First I got several coke bottles (you can learn allot about a person by the bottle caps he uses. In my case, the gray-silver cap suggests I drink the diet version of the bubbly beverage). I also needed a 1/4″ hex bolt, a 1/4″ hex nut, and two of those round thingies called washers. For the finishing touch I used some sand paper. (If you are not into coke or diet coke you can use the beverage to perform the Mentose and Diet Coke experiment – just make sure you retrieve the bottle)

Studio Lighting – Flash Mounted homemade DIY Beauty Dish or From Soup Dish to Beauty Dish

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Do you know why they call this piece of studio equipment “Beauty Dish”? Because it make people look beautiful. The idea is similar to other diffusion ideas – the more diffusion you put in your light, the softer the image is. This idea is widely deployed in photography studios – the softbox, the beauty dishes and the reflector disc all work on close principles.

The unique thing about a Beauty Dish is the way that it diffuses light – unlike a softbox or a reflector which has an “illuminating” surface the beauty dish has a circle of light with an opaque center. Now, what all this has to do with soup. You will soon find out.

DIY – Pocket Camera Tripod

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The following article will demonstrate how to build a useful tripod that’s easy to make and fits in your pocket. It uses stiff wire wrapped in electrical tape as legs, and taped to a bolt. You can make lots of those, and give some to your friends. The best thing about this tripod is its wrapping capabilities. It does not need to be placed on a leveled surface. Instead, it can be hooked to almost anything – a pipe, a fence – if it’s wrapable, you’re game.

How To Make Money From Micro Stock Photography

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Your pictures are worth money. I have recently learned, that in the Internet age, and with the help of some stock photography agencies, getting this money is easier then ever.

In this Article Aron Brand will share some of the tips he has learned, with the hope to help you realize your commercial potential. I doubt you will be millionaires from this trying this, but it can help you recover the “lost money” you spend on your hobby, and get some new gadgets.

Studio Lighting – DIY: Home-made Power Pack Flashes (Part II) – Variations on a theme

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Ok, So you’ve got your DIY Flash/Strobe working. Now you want to evolve to a full DIY studio – Here are some uses for the flash unit (again, courtesy of Avner Richard). In this article you will find some creative ueses for the basic circuit – Multipe flahs heads and controling output power – as well as some basic studio flash setups – beauty dish, spot light, soft box, ring light and more.

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