Fine Art Photography Service

Artwork Photography Guidlines

If you need to use another photographer for your artwork reproduction, here is a list of things you must consider :

• try to get lens square on to picture
• use flat even lighting
• set white balance to the available light
• use a good prime lens
• use a tripod
• include a greyscale colour refence in the shot
• include a colour reference in the shot
• if possible for large images, photo image in overlapping sections for stitching into one larger file.
• shoot in camera RAW mode with neutral saturation, brightness and contrast
• Set f stop to around f8
• use lowest possible ISO
• if possible use cross polarization method
• if varnished painting then definately use cross polarization method
• if possible use someone who has real experience photographing artwork.

Once photographed the image/s need to be colour balanced to match the original artwork, seen in natural dayligh conditions. The photographer must be using a calibrated quality monitor. Any image sent to me I must assume has been colour balanced and is ready to print. I will supply you with an accurate print of what is on the digital file. Supply me with Tif files if possible, with resolution set to 360ppi. You will need to be confident in the file and in the photographer who supplied it to you.

Monitor calibration

Your PC monitor may not be properly calibrated to display correct colour and white balance which will affect how you see images on your screen. It is very common for consumer systems to be overly bright and over saturated for effect.

Use this grayscale image below as a guage. You should be able to see the subtle difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally also A, B and C. Colur should be a neutral gray in all boxes.