Tips for Photographing your Artwork

It's extremely important to have good slides. They serve as your representative and will be what professionals view as examples of your work. If they are of low quality, they will only deter from the quality of your art in their opinions.

Use a 35mm SLR (single lens reflex) camera. Use a 50mm lens; its field of view is sufficient for photographing all but very large two-dimensional works.
Choose a top-brand slide film with the slowest possible speed, such as Kodachrome 64 outdoors or Ektachrome 64T indoors.
When photographing art outdoors, take the shots as close to midday as possible. Put the art in the shade, avoiding direct sunlight. Make sure it is evenly lighted by taking meter readings along the entire surface of the work.
Shooting artwork indoors requires a tripod, two photo lamps (3200 degrees K), and a cable release for tripping the shutter. The camera lens should be parallel to the art and the camera aimed dead center. Set the lights at 45 degree angles on either side of the art, pointing each light at the opposite side of the art.
Fill the entire frame with the artwork. If a background is absolutely necessary, use only a clean white or off-white surface like a wall. Slides look best when you see the artwork and nothing else.
If you find glare on shiny paintings or pieces under glass/plexi, try repositioning the lights or get a set of filters for your lens (under $50). Remove glass or plexi whenever possible.
Do not take just one shot at one exposure; instead bracket your shots. Take at least three shots each at three different exposures, one-half stop apart. Slides can be duplicated by a photo lab for around $1.25 each, but it is much cheaper to take multiple sets the first time. Also, first generation slides always look better than duplicates.
Have the film processed at a professional lab; less expensive processing can result in poorer quality slides. Professional rates begin at about $25 per hour plus film and processing. Very experienced museum-level photographers get up to $75 per hour and often charge "day rates." If you are interested, ask nearby museums or art galleries and see who they use.
For presentation purposes,always use clean, fresh slide sheets--if you hold an empty clear plastic sheet up to the light and you see scratches or hazing, throw that page away.

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