Photographing Art for Non-Photographers

Photographing Art For Non-Photographers

By Tom Ferguson

As on-line/virtual art exhibitions look to have a continuing future due to the worldwide Covid pandemic
it is essential that non-photographic artists learn to properly expose images of artwork that they wish to
display online.
Simple steps to follow:
1. Hang artwork on a wall
2. Center the lens of your smartphone, tablet, or camera on the center of the artwork. For example – if
the center of the artwork is 40” off the floor, the center of the lens should be at 40”. Likewise,
the lens should be centered horizontally to the artwork. If the artwork is 20” wide the lens
should be centered at 10”. This assures that your resulting image will not be skewed or appear
warped.
3. Make sure that you have adequate light on the artwork – outside would be best but lighting the
artwork evenly is important. If photographing artwork inside using two lights, left & right, is
optimum.
4. If you have a tripod for your camera, tablet, or phone – use it. This will assure that your lens is
centered on the work and will minimize any possibility of camera shake.
5. If using a DSLR type camera set your mode to “A” (Aperture Priority) and set the aperture to f/8. If
using a phone or tablet your camera function will default to Automatic.
6. Snap the picture
7. Crop the image in whatever photo editing software you use. It is customary to drop out any
surrounding wall or frame – you only want to show your artwork.
8. Save the edited image.
9. Load online to your website or whatever website will be exhibiting your artwork.
Following these steps should produce properly exposed, in focus, color correct images for online display.