J U S T T H E E S S E N T I A L S
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If you are not too concerned about getting the best shot possible and just want
to cut to the chase, the two links below will give you the bare essentials. On the
other hand, if you'd like to do it properly, the main menu below should give you
all the details you could need. Happy snapping...
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Photo specifications
Creating digital images
How to photograph your art
A picture's worth a thousand words...
However, the problem with the Internet is that you see one picture,
and a thousand different people see a thousand variations.
One monitor will differ from the next because of settings, the quality of the graphics
card and so on. Accuracy is the name of the game and the simplest approach to this
problem is the following:
P H O T O E S S E N T I A L S N o . 1
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CHECK YOUR PHOTOS FOR THE FOLLOWING
•The darkest
areas of the work still hold good detail
•The brightest
areas have not bleached or washed too much detail out
•The colours
are as similar to the original as possible
•The image is
nice and sharp
ALSO
•Only shoot
the art: including the frame is not only superfluous,
but looks very strange with the 'See it framed' function!
We will go through how to achieve each of these in the sections below. What people
don't want are surprises: an image that looks orange but is actually red, a detail
rather than the whole work and so on. Accuracy and reliability... if you can establish
trust and confidence by achieving those things, it's far more likely that your clients
will keep coming back.
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Sell art: quick guide >
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Photo Specifications
Formats
ArtSales.com.au publishes JPEG formatted photos. This is because these files are
adequately compressed to speed up page load times but retain good detail when displayed
on screen. JPEG uses "lossy compression" which means that visual information is
thrown away each time it is saved. Therefore it's a good idea to keep a master copy
of your image, from which you then save your JPEG images.
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Sizes
Whether taking photos with a digital camera or scanning an existing photo with a
scanner, you will face a choice of 'resolutions'. Resolution is expressed in a number
of different ways. With most cameras, you won't have to worry much about this because
you will only have a choice of 'low', 'medium' or 'high' quality. For use on the
web, only use low or at most, medium.
In most cases the resolution will be referred to as DPI: dots (or pixels) per inch.
The best resolution for our purposes is 90 DPI, which is a good average taking into
account different screen sizes and settings. Set cameras to 'medium' quality, and
save scanned images at 90 DPI.
Finally, watch your file sizes. The optimum size is about 1MB (1000 x 1000 pixels).
This is based on the dimensions as measured by the number of pixels to a side. So
750 X 1200 or 900 X 900 as an example would be fine because they are both under
1Mb. Files larger than this will take longer for you to upload, and secondly they'll
just be cut down again anyway. If all this sounds a bit too hard, don't worry: it's
all in the box below.
P H O T O E S S E N T I A L S N o . 2
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FORMAT AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR BEST RESULTS
•digital photos
and scans on medium setting
•files in JPEG
format
•an area equivalent
to 1000 x 1000 pixels (approximately 1 MB)
•and 90 dpi
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Sell art: quick guide >
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Creating Digital Images
There are 3 ways to capture photos and save them 'digitally'
on to your computer:
Digital camera
A digital camera is just like a regular camera, except that it does not use film.
Instead, images are stored digitally in its memory. Once you take a picture, you
can connect your camera to your computer and save the photo to your computer in
various formats. We use the JPEG format. Remember to take note of where you saved
the file. Digital cameras are the easiest way to capture and transfer digital photos
to your computer. When using a digital camera for taking pictures for the Internet
you don't actually need more than a 2 megapixel camera.
More pixels are of course useful when editing an image, so it is still a good idea
to get a camera with as many megapixels as possible - it simply gives you more creative
options.
More important than the number of megapixels is the camera's ability to do justice
to the qualities of your art. The quality of the optics is what's most important,
so if you are using an simple "point and shoot" camera we recommend a camera fitted
with Zeiss or Nikon optics. When it comes to more advanced cameras such as SLR models
on which you can change optics and so on, almost any will do; it is more a matter
of taste, what feels right for you and your wallet, since it's hard to find a bad
camera these days.
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Film camera and a flatbed scanner
Take a picture with your regular camera, have the film developed, and following
the scanner manufacturer's directions, use the scanner to convert the photograph
to a digital image. The scanner will then ask you to choose a location and file
name to save the image. If your artwork is small and flat, you can simply put that
directly on the scanner.
All you need to do is make sure you don't set the resolution too high (90 dpi).
Just as with digital camera photos, going for too much resolution is a waste. Remember
that ArtSales.com.au will automatically resize and compress any photos to around
1000 X 1000 pixels. Also remember that you must save the scanned image in JPEG format.
If you don't have access to a scanner, photographic shops may provide this service.
Don't forget to provide them with a copy of your desired specifications.
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Film camera and digital film processor
There are a couple of methods you can use to transfer images from regular film to
your computer.
•You can ask your local digital film processor
to scan copies of your photographs
onto a disk (CD or DVD) to take home and transfer to your computer, or...
•You can ask your film processing service if
they use a web service that can digitally post
copies of your photographs to a website. You can then copy these from the website
to your computer to use whenever you like.
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Transfer devices
Each digital camera and scanner has its own procedure for transferring image files
to a computer. Some use cables; others use removable memory chips. Follow the instructions
in your camera or scanner's manual.
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How To Photograph Your Art
Flat art
•Take photographs so that only the work is shown
•If possible, always remove protective glass
from the work before taking pictures
of it: if not possible, use a polarising filter to minimise glare and reflections.
•Do not include any external background
•Do not include any frame (unless it's an integral
part of the work)
If you are having trouble getting the edges of your work straight:
•You may be standing too close. Try backing
away a few steps from the work and
zoom in on it instead.
•Check your lens. You may be using a wide angle
or fisheye lens. Change this to a
standard 200mm lens if you can.
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3D art
•Where possible, take photographs so that only
the work is shown.
•A non-distracting background is essential for
anything that is not normally
located outdoors. Sculpture can be placed on a table in front of background paper,
background cloth, card, or darkness.
•The basic rule: keep detail out of the background.
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Lighting for outdoors
When taking photos outside, the best results are obtained out of direct sunlight.
A bright overcast day or large area of open shade is ideal. Direct sun will create
too much contrast for the camera and your shots will either be too dark with bright
highlights or too bright with no detail in the shadows. Bright sunlight also tends
to highlight surface texture and can make the colour look washed out. Good results
can be achieved by taking your shots on overcast days, or by shooting in an area
of even shade. Avoid direct sunlight hitting the camera lens and use a tripod if
possible.
Paintings
•Looking through the viewfinder, centre the
work and make the sides of viewfinder
parallel to the sides of the painting.
•For quick camera placement mark a stick at
the height of the centre of the
painting, and hold the camera at the same height as that mark.
•Beware of reflections, particularly subtle
coloured ones from grass or other
surroundings.
3D Works
•Even lighting is less critical for sculpture
and more dramatic lighting may provide
better results; try it and see.
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Lighting for indoors
Try to use diffuse natural sunlight. A room with large bright windows on a sunny
day is excellent. But avoid having sunlight directly on your work. If using artificial
light use multiple indirect light sources. Keep the light as even as possible. Even
subtle shadowing can make parts of your work look dark or mottled.
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Flash
In most cases the simplest route to a good result is to use natural light. Flash
will only tend to wash out parts of the work's colour and detail, while creating
an unnatural look. However, if you must use flash, below are some simple guidelines.
Direct Flash
A direct flash is worse than useless in most cases, but if you have no choice other
than using the camera's built in flash, then put your finger over its centre to
minimize reflections.
Indirect Flash
Always use an indirect flash, which means, do not point the flash straight at the
surface of the work, but reflect it using a reflector umbrella or some other white
surface. Often just the ceiling or a wall will do. If you wish to attempt good studio
quality shots of your work, you will need at least two flashes with reflector umbrellas.
When placed as shown below, you will get an even spread of light which will not
create reflections or shadows in the picture.
Use a light meter to measure the light so that you get the same value (8/250 or
8/125 is sufficient) for a minimum of three zones as shown by the three red spots.
For larger works you may want to measure light levels at all four corners and the
centre. If the readings are not equal, adjust the lights until the meter readings
are equal. If the right balance proves too tricky, try pointing the lights directly
at each other. For greater accuracy, use a 20% neutral grey card available from
photographic supply shops for measuring light levels at these areas.
The flashes, the camera and the painting are all placed on the same horizontal line.
The painting is placed horizontally in order to make the best use of the spreading
of the light.
If you are taking pictures of sculptures you can use basically the same setting,
but since you probably do want some shadows in order to bring forth the forms and
shapes of the sculpture, then you can experiment more with the placement of the
flashes. You can also either turn down one of the flashes or replace it with a reflector
in order to create smooth, not too dominating shadows.
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Framing the shot
Zoom in or out until the work almost fills the screen, leaving a small area around
it for accurate cropping later using editing software. You may be tempted to take
detail shots of particular areas of interest, but generally, the magnifier on each
gallery page will allow people to view the details they want.
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Angles
Try to position your artwork securely on a flat surface so that you can photograph
it straight on (at right angles), and not off to one side. The camera should be
level with the centre of the artwork. There is a bit more flexibility with 3D works,
but too great an angle can create an inaccurate sense of scale or proportion.
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Camera settings
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Taking the photo
Assuming you've done all of the above, that you have your camera batteries charged
and enough memory left in the camera, then you're ready to go. From here it's really
just point and shoot, but even this simple task can have a trick to it. We want
crisp, focused shots. Sharp photos won't stand out in a crowd, but believe me, soft,
blurred ones will - and they'll be instantly ignored by viewers for that very reason!
Here are a few tips:
•For automatic cameras, depress the shutter
button part way for a moment before
clicking it all the way in to take the shot. This partial pressure causes the camera
to auto-focus.
•For more sophisticated cameras you can use
a shutter release cable to minimise
movement.
•Use a tripod if one's available, or set the
camera up on something solid,
like a table, bench or a chair.
•Another little trick to avoid camera movement
is to set the timer for a couple of seconds so there is no contact with the camera when it takes the shot.
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P H O T O E S S E N T I A L S N o . 3
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LET'S GET ONE THING STRAIGHT
Shoot your work too close or not straight on and you will notice that old devil
perspective, squeezing your image out of shape: bad look and not accurate.
You can crop your image so it looks straight but that's cheating
(and possibly a little deceptive if you leave too much out),
or you can download ShiftN, a free application, (big thanks to Marcus Hebel)
which will get your verticals back on the straight and narrow.
Click on the link below > Photographie or Gimmicks > ShiftN.
And it works well with the free image editors below...
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Sell art: quick guide >
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Editing your photo
Once the photo is on your computer hard drive, a few little improvements with some
photo editing software may help. Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard programme
for Windows and Mac but is quite expensive. If you don't have any editing software,
we recommend the following free programmes:
For Windows
Three fully featured image editors - click and download the programme of your choice.
For Mac OS
If your Mac doesn't have iPhoto - click the link to download either of these.
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FREE APPLE/MAC IMAGE
EDITORS
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Tips
•Crop your photos to remove any unnecessary
background which includes any existing
frame or matting. Including the frame not only looks unprofessional but you will
not be able to take full advantage of the frame visualisation feature. Most buyers
are not looking for frames, they are only interested in the image.
•Balance the contrast and brightness. A touch
of sharpness is often helpful, but don't
sharpen the image too much. (Use 'unsharp mask' in Photoshop or 'contrast'
in Paint.NET).
•The Rotate or Flip command will turn your picture
right side up (if necessary).
P H O T O E S S E N T I A L S N o . 4
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COLOUR ACCURACY
DO NOT try to adjust your image for
colour accuracy.
Unless your monitor's colour space has been professionally calibrated and
you've included an industry standard repro-colour index in the image to adjust to,
then any adjustments to suit your monitor will only cause colour inaccuracy
when viewed on other monitors.
Trust your digital camera: most of them are suprisingly accurate.
While not for the faint hearted, if you who are interested in visually adjusting
your monitor's gamma and black levels, you can download the following free utility.
However you are advised to first read the full expalantion behind its use
which can be found in this excellent article on
monitor calibration and gamma.
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Sell art: quick guide >
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Remember, keeping it true to the original is the name of the game. Do not digitally
manipulate your picture too much. If the picture is a lost cause, then don't try
to save it with Photoshop or other editing software, take a new photo instead.
Your photos are stored on ArtSales.com.au's servers only while your work is on the
site. It's a good idea to keep a copy of the photo on your computer if you want
to use it again in the future.