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martcol
10th of February 2005 (Thu), 13:09
I photograph an artist friend's paintings to catalogue them. He insists on using daylight but I am trying to persuade him to let me have a go with my flash. I agree with him that good daylight is lovely to work in but it is a bit unpredictable if you want consistent conditions over time. I think that if I can get a good flash set up, I can get a result that is pretty predictable no matter what time of year or day. His studio has a good window which illuminates the center of the room well.

I have two EX flashes (420 & 550) and the transmitter so I can set the camera up full on with the two flashes off camera. I imagine that both flashes should be at 45 degrees from the camera and should be on a similar plane. I shoot RAW.

Any thoughts on that?

Regards

Martin
FlyingPete
10th of February 2005 (Thu), 13:37
Personally when I am doing this sort of thing I wouldn't use a flash, but having them both off camera will help.

You will need to place them either side on an angle in such a way the the light is not relected back at the camera, check out this thread for some more pointers on art work shooting:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57290
martcol
10th of February 2005 (Thu), 15:04
Personally when I am doing this sort of thing I wouldn't use a flash, but having them both off camera will help.

Many thanks Peter. I would prefer to not use flash but I wonder if the benefit for me would be to get a controlable light source. I want to be able to go back to the studio every time a couple of paintings are ready, set up exactly as it was the last time and pop off a couple of shots.

Regards

Martin
PhotosGuy
10th of February 2005 (Thu), 22:04
If there's a lot of texture in the paintings (like palette knife work), watch for reflections in the paint.
martcol
11th of February 2005 (Fri), 11:10
Many thanks

I'll have a go soon and report back any problems!

Regards

Martin
Avalonthas
11th of February 2005 (Fri), 19:35
I would do it in daylight as i have tryed many flash setups in the past for archiving paints and stuff, and depending on the paint makeup, the material or canvas painted on, and texture of the paint, reflections are common.