montana photo blog

the art of shooting artwork with a tennis ball

July 23, 2009

Posted in: Uncategorized

how to shoot artwork with a tennis ball

ok, so we aren’t really using a tennis ball to shoot, but it’s an easy way to remind students about light and reflection on shiny artwork. A perfect example of how to shoot large, difficult paintings presented itself when artist and good friend, Paul Aho  www.paul-aho.com completed a new commission. Paul’s artwork presents many challenges due to multiple layers of glazes and paint . Since I have photographed hundreds of Paul Aho paintings, I am not shocked by odd exposures or reflections. Each of his paintings reacts differently to light so the exposure is always in question, especially with 8-foot paintings.

Here are the 5-steps that i take to shoot artwork with a couple pics thrown-in along with a bonus installation pic to give you an idea of the scale of the paintings.

1. EQUIPMENT – I use a minimum of 2 strobes and umbrellas for each side. As a rule i always want my umbrellas to cover, at the very least, the entire length of the artwork. For this shoot I used two, four-foot umbrellas. ALWAYS shoot on a tripod. You cannot stay square to the painting without one.

2. CAMERA – i shoot raw and jpeg for all my jobs, but especially for artwork. The artist may want to use this image for giclee editions so you want the quality to be the highest you can produce. I measure from the floor to the center of the painting and then i square my camera to the artwork and raise the center of the lens to this number. This will give you a square shot and a fighting chance at having a clean undistorted shot of the artwork. Without this step you might as well just figure on way too much time in photoshop. Remember, you get paid to shoot the image, not for unnecessary post production.

3. LIGHTS – set up your lights about 45 degrees to the face of the artwork and about 8 feet from the center of the artwork. You will need to raise one light so that the bottom of the umbrella is at the height of the center of the painting. Set the other light below this one as close to directly underneath as you can so that the top of this umbrella butts right up against the bottom of the top light. When shooting artwork, always try to shoot at F16 or higher to avoid any focus issues.

3. THE TENNIS BALL TEST – I don’t actually throw one, but you can if you want. Stand facing the artwork next to the umbrella on the right. Imagine throwing a tennis ball from the middle of the umbrella toward the artwork. Would it hit the camera? Think so? then you will need to move the lights away from the camera/artwork center line. Glare, unlike the tennis ball, isnt always very obvious. Since we no longer shoot test polaroids, make sure you look VERY close on your monitor.

4. WHITE BALANCE – When shooting strobes I NEVER shoot on the “flash” setting. While this may be close, close is not good enough for a commercial photographer. I always preset white balance when the exposure is determined to ensure a neutral image for the client. Once the white balance is set we shoot an image of the greycard and pull it up in photoshop to verify the numbers as neutral.

5. SHOOT – Now its time to shoot, every painting will react differently to the strobes so continually verify your exposure through your histograms. The less you are messing around in post the better the quality of your image and just as importantly, time saved is money earned.

Finished image of painting from the "Rio de Ais" body of work

Samantha holds the grey card (note the glare above her head because my lights were to close to the center line)

we like to call him MR. Neutral...

Paul Aho installing the final painting in "Rio de Ais"