Photographing Oil Paintings

I have meet an artist who would like to have all his paintings photographed and put into a catalogue to show his work.


I have taken a few test shots and they came out better than expected, but here is a question to anybody who has taken these types of shots.


He uses mainly oils, I noticed the raised effects in some of my shots and they really gave the paintings some depth and texture, not all are textured though, but most, he also uses very vibrant colours.


My gear is in my sig line, I can stretch to a little gear if needed but price is a factor, any advice on lighting and settings to complement photographing oils would be very interesting.


Thanks.


Steve

I was also looking at this lens, Canon 60mm f/2.8 Macro, it's around 255euros, this price is OK, the 100mm will not fit my needs, although a little cheaper so I hear.

Steve

The 60 2.8 Macro is a great lens. It is small and light, which encourages you to take it with you. I only got rid of mine because I changed to FF.

OTOH, the 70-200 f4L is a very sharp lens. You could probably use this for the oil paintings as well.

Thanks cineraceus,

Small and light looks good, especially with all the extra gear I'm starting to lug around.

I was thinking of the 70-200, but have been reading that macros have a flat dof, no curvature, perfect for paintings.

I will shortly be shooting metal/wood art sculptures, so will use the 70-200 and 50 1.8 for these, so far, I have not too bad results.

Steve

Photographing my Artwork

Steve,,Most camera lenses aren't really designed for shooting flat 2 dimensional subjects,, this is reserved for flat field lenses.. Camera lenses especially zooms aren't pin sharp from edge to edge and corner to corner especially at wider apertures,,, a dedicated macro lens is better..

Use your 50mm F/1.8 at a small aperture,,around F/11.. Ensure your all verticals are vertical and horizons are horizontal.. Use diffused available light ,,, inside by a window is good.. Camera on a 3pod,, ISO at around 200 will do..

That is a good point about the zooms.

The original reason I bought a DSLR was to shoot pictures of calligraphy. I started with a 50mm F1.4, but I found it too soft. I got much better results when I changed to using a macro lens.

I'd say your biggest concern is going to be color management. You will need to work closely with the printer to make sure your files will fit their requirements for good reproduction. This will probably mean using a good calibrated monitor, MacBeth Color Checker charts, and some post processing.

Thanks for the link, he has a sunless courtyard, so this sounds perfect.

One test shot I did was shot from a lower position, on the camera screen it looked ok, it really showed up on my pc.

These pictures will only be put on a CD for him to send to prospective gallery's, if any prints are needed, they will go to a local studio near me, I really do need to look into colour management though.

So far I think I have the basic concepts

Tripod
50mm at f/11, ISO 200
MLU and self timer, I will be buying a remote unit A.S.A.P.
Metering mode, a little help here would be great
Focus points, center point or not ?
Flat, leveled painting, camera level set to mid point of painting
Set up in courtyard, is it still worth using my two 500w tungsten lights
There will be no glass in any frames, he will take them all out.
All shots in RAW.

Not sure if I'm missing something, cheers everyone.

Steve

Steve,,, because this is a very controlled shoot I'd manually focus using the centre point.. I find if your have all your focus points it can become distracting with all those lights going off.. As you focus in and out check your viewfinder's extremities and see how the edges pop in and out of focus.. Although you may be fairly close to the artwork the F/11 depth of field will look after any minor focusing errors.. Ensure the artwork is in the same plane as your camera's sensor to avoid any distortion.. When you've focused hit your depth of field preview button to check your focus..

A shutter remote/release is handy but if you don't have one use the camera's self timer to trip the shutter.. If the artwork is of even mid tones you can use AV mode,, Manual metering is more accurate off a grey card or something similar.. Chimp, check for exposure errors and adjust your exposure.. I wouldn't use 500watt tungstens,,they will give you a red/yellow cast.. Available light is best..

Don't shoot too tight,,leave a bit of negative space around the artwork for cropping and adjusting any parallels..

I hope this helps,,,good luck..

It would be a good idea to use a Whilbal to set your black and white points perfectly in PP.