How to photograph paintings and glass-covered artwork?

A coworker mentioned that her painter boyfriend needs to have some decent pictures taken of several paintings he has done in order to post on Ebay. Some are typical oil paints on canvas. Some items are also already matted under glass.

Any ideas or tips for photographing this works of art?

Use as much natural light as possible. For ones under glass, you should not use flash (or if you must, position the flash off camera) and position the work so that there is no external reflections. A circular polarizer filter will help reduce the glare.
You will have to shoot straight on since being off center a bit will distort the image.
Even with all your efforts you may have to adjust the color a bit.

Thanks. It be harder then I thought, especially without using flash. I guess that is where the tripod comes in handy.

85Kocher wrote: Thanks. It be harder then I thought, especially without using flash. I guess that is where the tripod comes in handy.

If you have a covered porch out of direct sunlight, that might provide enough light.

I would think about white balance on art reproduction, In other words using a preset white balance would be the easiest way to have a true color rendering. YES, you can do it in post but, color being done in camera is always better.

I'm not a total expert or anything, but I have learned that anytime you want to photograph anything under or through glass, you need to do so from an angle. Light follows straight lines and if you're directly in front of the glass you'll get the flash back in your photo. Think of a pool ball banking off the side of the pool table. If you're at a slight angle the light will bounce away from you and you won't get the glare.

Hope that helps.

The "bad" part of photographing artwork from an angle is the distortion. I have photographed some of my wife's hand hooked rugs and if I don't get then dead on the perspective kills them. Same with my paintings.

I took this one very quickly hand-held (should have used a tripod with a 1 sec exposure). It is behind glass. It was taken at night with an overhead light on and no flash. With a tripod, if would have been much more crisp. Not the best conditions but shows it can be done.



Watch out for your own reflection in the photo.

I've photographed a few paintings under glass before. The trick is to have two diffused lightsources from either side (never frontal, and windows with natural light work well), and your camera mounted on a tripod with a large black backdrop behind it. Cameras and tripods are usually black, but just in case drape a black cloth over the setup as well. Shoot the painting straight on, preferably with a light to medium telephoto or macro lens to minimize distortion. Use the timer or cabled release to stay away from the tripod so yourself doesn't show as a reflection on the glass.

Paintings without glass are much easier. You can shoot those just fine on an overcast day, or in the shade of a house.

Baydream is right, it's very easy to get a skewed perspective of the painting. Make sure you're lined up as evenly as possible, and use around f8.0 for maximum sharpness and good depth of field.

Baydream wrote:

85Kocher wrote: Thanks. It be harder then I thought, especially without using flash. I guess that is where the tripod comes in handy.

If you have a covered porch out of direct sunlight, that might provide enough light.

Actually, I do. I think that would be my best bet. I'll just have to watch out for reflections.

michelle m wrote: I'm not a total expert or anything, but I have learned that anytime you want to photograph anything under or through glass, you need to do so from an angle. Light follows straight lines and if you're directly in front of the glass you'll get the flash back in your photo. Think of a pool ball banking off the side of the pool table. If you're at a slight angle the light will bounce away from you and you won't get the glare.

Hope that helps.

Well, yes, but that's only if I plan on using a flash. Which I hope not too. Like it was mention, in an early post, it's better to shoot the art straight on, not at an angle and without flash.

Baydream wrote: The "bad" part of photographing artwork from an angle is the distortion. I have photographed some of my wife's hand hooked rugs and if I don't get then dead on the perspective kills them. Same with my paintings.

What a difference. You're right the perspective kills the art.

Yasko wrote: I've photographed a few paintings under glass before. The trick is to have two diffused lightsources from either side (never frontal, and windows with natural light work well), and your camera mounted on a tripod with a large black backdrop behind it. Cameras and tripods are usually black, but just in case drape a black cloth over the setup as well. Shoot the painting straight on, preferably with a light to medium telephoto or macro lens to minimize distortion. Use the timer or cabled release to stay away from the tripod so yourself doesn't show as a reflection on the glass.

Paintings without glass are much easier. You can shoot those just fine on an overcast day, or in the shade of a house.

Baydream is right, it's very easy to get a skewed perspective of the painting. Make sure you're lined up as evenly as possible, and use around f8.0 for maximum sharpness and good depth of field.

Thanks, Yasko. Damn, more work involved then a simple taking a picture. Although, I am sure when it's all said and done it's well worth it. Like photography itself. Thank you again for that information.