Taking Photos of your 2D Artwork

Whether you are taking photographs of your artwork to hand in electronically or for your own portfolio or website, you really need to take the time to get the photograph right.

Here are some tips and things to check for once you have photographed your artwork

STEPS FOR A GREAT PHOTOGRAPH:

LOCATION: Find a well lit location to photograph your artwork. Best would be natural light - outside or in a room with lots of natural light.
LAY your 2D artwork (drawing or painting) on the floor/ground.
LIGHTING: Photograph during the day when possible with natural light (sun or even a slightly cloudy day). If you don't have enough light, you may need 2 lights to properly light your artwork.

FRAME YOUR SHOT (look through viewfinder & crop out any extra stuff around your art )
CHECK LIGHTING - Check that there are NO "hot spots" or brightly lit areas on your artwork. If so, MOVE YOUR ARTWORK OR ADD ANOTHER LIGHT to where it appears darker. Make sure there are NO SHADOWS cast on your artwork from you or nearby objects. You can "bounce" light back onto darker areas with a propped white board or paper. VERY IMPORTANT: Keep your camera level or parallel to the floor/your artwork so you are not photographing your work on an angle. That will distort the shape of your artwork. (rectangular work will look like a parallelogram)

See example below : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKgWIzvm3Hs

4. ZOOM IN BUT STAY LEVEL - Get closer to your artwork so you are photographing as much of your artwork as possible without background (floor, your shoes, etc.)

VERY IMPORTANT: Keep your camera level or parallel to the floor/your artwork so you are not photographing your work on an angle. That will distort the shape of your artwork. (rectangular work will look like a parallelogram) See example from : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKgWIzvm3Hs

5. EDIT/CROP- After you take a photo, really look at it. Reshoot if needed. Use your camera's edit tools to crop and even straighten your image before saving the photo.

6. SAVE good quality (higher resolution for files) & SHARE (lower resolution if required)

SEE IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY WHAT PROBLEMS ARE IN PHOTOGRAPHS A-D:

HOW CAN YOU FIX THEM?

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