ArtBistro

How to Photograph Your Artwork: Backgrounds

Alta Fjord, watercolor on paper, 18 x 24 inches, Valerie Atkisson

Featured Author:

Valerie Atkisson

Prior to starting ArtBistro, Valerie has lived and worked as an artist in New York City for ten years. Her work has been shown at New York galleries and museums and been reviewed in publications such as The New York Times. Valerie taught art for eight years part-time at Grace Church School and most recently at a Brigham Young University. She has collaborated on a number of commercial enterprises with composers, designers, writers, photographers, and dancers. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts with her Master of Fine Arts in 1998. ArtBistro Portfolio

More articles from this author:

• ArtBistro Reputation Score Improvements
• An Artist's High
• ArtBistro Introduces eGfits

How to Photograph Artwork

Four times a week I look through your portfolios to choose work to go in the Featured Portfolio on the home page. This is one of the best parts of my job. I get to see what you are working on and often am very impressed with the caliber of work on ArtBistro. There is one main way that I think that the portfolios could be improved. That is the photography of artwork. In many cases, the medium of the work makes a big difference in the presentation. For example, work that is created on a digital platform is ideally suited for presentation on a computer screen. The same goes for video (even though it is a little small), and photography. However when it comes to artwork that you make on a different material and then transfer to a digital format, problems arise. The main problem that I come across is bad photography of paintings, drawings and sculpture. As a result, sometimes I have to select a piece that is less interesting and better photographed instead of one that is more interesting and poorly photographed.

To get your work featured go here and join the Featured Portfolio Group. Please follow instructions before joining the group.

Big picture

The whole purpose of photographing your work is to present it to others. They may not be able to see it in person so taking a photograph is the next best thing. You want the image to portray your artwork in the most accurate way that you can. If you don’t get good photography of your work, it is like making a precious thing then destroying it before you show people. The work itself may be wonderful but if your photography of it is bad, you are doing yourself a disservice. Your work is only as good as your photography of it. The opposite is true: if you have some work that is fine, but no masterpiece and you get good photography of it, the work will look more professional and impressive. I’m not talking about photo manipulation here, I’m just talking about common sense and applying good photography principles.

Note: If your two dimensional work is small enough you should consider scanning it rather than photographing it. Make sure the image is clean and the scan bed is dust free. If your image is not completely flat, you will have better luck photographing it.

Main Problems

Background choices

Uneven lighting

Warping of proportions

In this article we will discuss background choices

Background

Three Generations of Dawn’s, 2003, Oil on Panel, 24” x 42”, Valerie Atkisson

The background of a two dimensional piece should be black or white. You need to decide which will flatter your work better. If the work is on paper you can temporarily tape it to the wall, without the tape showing, to photograph it. Paintings should hang on the wall as flat against it as possible. Make sure that your wall is clean, and nail hole free. For three-dimensional work, the background should be a sloping gray paper that comes down from a roll above and sits underneath your work. This creates a gradation of gray behind the piece when photographing it. Work that is photographed on other surfaces looks less professional and may call attention to the surface rather than your piece. A big roll of photography paper is very expensive, one alternative could be gray or black cloth, but paper is the best choice. If you know any professional studio photographers they may have some big used pieces that are clean enough for you to use.

Raku Fired Vessel Balcones Clay, Don Christiansen

For large outdoor sculpture obviously the background will be where it is installed.

Unframed

All work should be photographed before it is framed, not after. Any frame is a distraction to the work. Also, if it is behind glass it is very difficult to get a good shot with no reflection.

Cropping

With Photoshop, now it is easier to crop your images. Some artist prefer to crop out the background so that it does not show at all. Others prefer to leave it in. While you are photographing the work however, you want to fill the frame as much as possible with the work itself.

Part 2: Warping/Proportions