How To Take Digital Photos of Art: Directions for DIY Artists

Assuming you can get your hands on a decent digital camera, preferably one that has an automatic setting for light and focus, this post is going to give you basic instructions on how to photograph your work outside using natural mid-day light.

I work in a small to medium-sized format (4x4 to 36x48 inches), but the same principals apply for larger pieces.

1. Choose the best time to do your photography. 12- 1pm usually works best when the sun is highest in the sky (for your location and the time of year) to avoid glare and shadows on your work. Full sun is best, rather than a cloudy day, when you'd have to change the brightness later in Photoshop.
2. Create a white backdrop on a table or chair brought outside.
3. Prop your artwork up on the chair or on the table with something behind it to make it stand up vertically. You can also use the side of a building, attaching the white sheet or foam core to the wall. This method is useful for larger work.
4. Point the camera at the piece making sure to be level with the center. Line up the sides of the artwork in the viewfinder on the camera, making sure to get the art as close to the edges (as large as possible). It's usually difficult to get the piece to line up exactly right in the shot, so do your best and correct alignment later in Photoshop.
5. So here's what your set-up looks like, being careful to avoid any shadows from trees, buildings, etc:

6. Here I used a cardboard box and 2 white garbage bags - works great for small pieces!

7. Load onto your computer and import into Photoshop to brighten photos using the white of the bags as a value marker.

Next post: how to adjust color and square up your image...