ARTWORK PHOTOGRAPHY: 5 quick tips with David Bergman

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Photographer David Bergman has launched amazing series of two minutes youtube clips that cover various interesting topics and how-to’s in photography. David goes live every Monday at 11am EST on Adorama TV, so make sure to tune in. In this article, we we will explore 5 quick tips for photographing an artwork. You can view the video version of this tutorial as well on Adarama TV.  

Remove the glass

Usually the artwork is hung behind the protective screen to preserve its fragile nature. When photographing the artwork however, that protective screen causes nasty reflections popping in your frame all the time, regardless of what angle you are shooting at. To avoid this misfortune remove the glass completely.

Use shade

David suggests us to bring the artwork outside and place it in the shade. He reasons that to get an even lighting across the artwork you need a good even, indirect ambient light that one can get under the shade. Placing the subject under direct sunlight will have a negative impact as it will create spotlights and shadows on the subject. If shooting inside the studio, use a big soft modifier like 7′ PLM umbrella to produce soft even light on the subject.

Shoot flat and straight

Make sure to position your camera at the 90 degree level to avoid any undesired tilting on photos. Ever noticed the photo looking like it’s leaning outwards? We do not want that. So level your camera at the same height as your artwork and have the lens looking perpendicular to the subject.

Settings

David shares his preferred camera settings for shooting Artwork. He has ISO at 100 to preserve the quality of the picture without introducing any artifacts. His F stop is at f8, – the sweepstakes’s spot for many lenses to deliver most sharpness to the frame. His lens is at 50mm. Zooming wider than 50 will creative a lens distortion making subject perceived wider that it is. You want to avoid that as well. In this example David shoots in raw format. His white balance is neutral. He also uses a grey card to calibrate the white balance later in post production. Do not use any flash. It will destroy your even lighting otherwise.

Use a tripod

Last, but not least. Depending on the level of available brightness you might need to set your shutter speed to very low like, 1/5, 1/2, 1 or even longer. At those speeds, it is impossible not to introduce blur and shake if you shoot handheld. Use a steady tripod instead. it will also help you to maintain the best position possible. In this episode David even uses a remote control so he could step away from the camera and make sure everything stay still. Sharp crisp images are guaranteed.