As artists, we spend a ton of time perfecting our craft.

And then, later hours of working on a painting, wearied and up confronting a deadline, nosotros often fail the almost important part of the procedure: photographing the piece of work. Too many of us are a little lost when information technology comes to the specifics and settle for a few sloppy shots before aircraft the artwork out.

Since artists are required to submit work digitally for exhibitions, grants, talks and your public profile page, good photography offers the first impression of your art and your professionalism.

We frequently run across artists with incredible artwork, but take images that are shot in dimly lit, sloppy environments that distort the original artwork.

Knowing how to properly photograph your work can mean the departure betwixt being accepted to a show, or winning the favors of an of import customer or gallery director.

We put together a few guidelines to photographing your artwork so you tin can begin to photo your artwork like a pro.

Howard Sherman shows how he documents his work on his Instagram account. On the right "Edgy Community of Unconventional Types."

1. Hang your artwork on the wall

We regularly come across artwork photographed leaned up confronting a wall and shot from a downward angle. Detect a neutral colored wall (white, black, gray) and hang your piece of work at a height where the centre of your slice will be parallel to where your camera will be —either on a tripod or resting sturdily on a table or other surface.

ii. Light your work properly

If y'all are shooting your work indoors, do so in a room with plenty of windows and natural calorie-free. Some artists also savor photographing their piece of work outdoors when it is cloudy or overcast, every bit indirect sunlight provides the best lighting. Natural light can be a beautiful mode to photograph your work as long as it is indirect.

If the weather isn't cooperating, or if you are up against a belatedly-night deadline, you will demand to fix a lighting kit. The good news is, you don't accept to spend a ton for a professional person setting if y'all aren't ready to invest in one.

All you will demand is two lights at a minimum for two-dimensional piece of work. We accept used lighting stands that you ofttimes see in dorm rooms (the ones with 3 adjustable bulbs) or clench lights. Place the lights halfway betwixt the camera and the canvas at a 45-degree angle pointing toward the wall (this will help eliminate shadows and "hot spots" on the painting). If you accept umbrellas for your lights, attach them now.

Arthur Brouthers shows how he uses white panels to reflect light and a finished piece "Slipping 2" on his Instagram.

LIGHT HACK: If you lot don't have professional form lighting kit, you tin can easily hack diffusing the calorie-free with a white sheet or white plastic betwixt the lights and your work. This helps to evenly distribute the light. Alternatively, a few sheets of white foam core tin be fix to simulate a "raking low-cal" upshot where the lights are pointed at the foam core and the whiteboard reflects the light back at the piece.

3. Adjust your camera and settings

Once your artwork is secured to the wall, double check that the photographic camera is set to the lens lines upward with the middle of the painting. You desire to position your camera so that the frame is filled with most of the painting, with a bit of background that yous can crop out later. It is important for many juries to run into the edges of the paintings to get a sense of calibration.

The ISO and aperture of your camera are very of import to become articulate, well-baked and brilliant images of your artwork. ISO references what film speed used to measure. The higher the number, the more than sensitive the moving picture was to light and the coarser the image. In this case, since we want very crisp images, we want a low ISO. Studio shots volition by and large be shot at ISO 100.

The f-stop of the aperture of your photographic camera adjusts how much light is let through the lens by making the opening bigger or smaller. The college the number, the less light is beingness passed through. With a DSLR the ideal range for shooting artworks is betwixt f-viii and f-11.

TIP: Set your camera's timer to four or five seconds then that pressing the shutter button doesn't create a shake in your image.

4. Edit your photos to perfection

In that location are plenty of free or cheap photo editing software alternatives out there that will assist minimize any inconsistencies. While Photoshop however reigns rex, Photoshop Elements or Gimp allow basic functions such as colour correction, cropping, and other minor adjustments. Lightroom also offers a subscription-based editing program that professional person photographers swear by.

In that location are, of course, many additional nuances and tricks that could be added to this initial guide. However, if you are looking to amend your photographs and represent yourself professionally on your public profile page, this is a great starting place.