Comments on: You Asked – Taking Digital Photos of Paintings

By: Bob Peterson

Bob Peterson — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:25:53 +0000

Thanks for the replies which were helpful

Bob Peterson

By: John Endicott

John Endicott — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:13:05 +0000

I wanted to chime in, as I have had a lot of success using natural light to take good photos of paintings my aunt has sent me in the past. You don’t necessarily have to be outside either, but if you have a glass door and it is a sunny day, that could work as well as long as the light gets through unimpeded!

By: phyllis

phyllis — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:16:51 +0000

Go to Nita Lelands website. I am pretty sure she has an article on this subject. Phyllis

By: steve chase

steve chase — Sat, 16 May 2009 07:19:51 +0000

depending on the size of the art, a high resolution scan of the watercolor can be done on a home scanner or Kinkos. the advantage of this is completely flat lighting and absolutely no distortion caused by an off perpendicular lens if you use a camera without plumb bobbing the lens etc.
it is the most accurate copy you can make. After you download it onto your computer, you can use photoshop or another editor to color correct the art any way you like.

By: Adelaide

Adelaide — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:59:24 +0000

Hi Robert. It took me quite a while to work this one out too; here’s what I do.

First turn off the flash, then take your painintg outside into natural light. Place it on the floor and stand astride it so that you and the camera are viewing it from above. Then centre your shot and zoom in as close as you want it.

I find the best time to take photos is early morning before the sun gets too high. I never place my picture in direct sunlight, always in a shade area. I have a Canon digital and since using this method have never had to mess around with camera settings.

At the computer I load the photos into ‘Picasa’ (free from Google) where I straighten and crop, then very occasionaly if needed I’ll click the ‘I’m feeling lucky’ button.

Sometimes we get caught up in technology and make things far too dificult for ourselves! I hope this helps you to get better results.