Deadline for Entries:
August 2, 2010

Juror:
Janet Walsh

2010 Prospectus:
downloadable pdf

or send SASE to
Kansas Watercolor Society
Wichita Center for the Arts
9112 E. Central
Wichita, KS 67206

I write the following information with the assumption that none of you know anything about photographing your work, therefore it may seem basic to some of you who are accomplished at photography. I do not assume any of you to be dunderheads, so please don't be offended if I explain things you already know. With that said, I offer the following.

The most direct and simple way to photograph paintings is in sunlight,though we will discuss other methods in Part 2.

Four items are necessary for photographing in sunlight:
1. An easel or other support to hold the painting
2. A tripod-mounted camera, either film or digital
3. A clear, open space with no tree shadow or utility lines that will cast shadows.
4. A day with little or no clouds.
The last item on the list can be troublesome, especially if one has time constraints and the sky is overcast.

Remove the painting from the frame; don’t try to photograph through the glass.
If the painting is matted it will be easier if you take off the mat and tape the painting either to its backing board or some other board to keep it flat as possible (makes sense to photograph your painting before you mat or frame it. Kodak Ektachrome brand, 36 exposure, daylight transparency film with a small Exposure Index (EI) of 64 or less (marked on the film’s box), is a good choice and relatively easy to find. The lower EI will give you less contrast and somewhat more richness of color. However, in any film darker areas in the painting are difficult to hold and usually come out with little detail. Keep this in mind when photographing your work, especially if your painting has dark passages.

Exposure
To get the proper exposure, no matter what the value range of your painting, you’ll need to adjust your camera as follows--assuming you have a camera with through-the-lens metering, (i.e., you can see the light meter in the viewfinder):
1. If your camera is automatic, set it for manual exposure if you can. This makes photographing your work easier because the camera in its automatic mode cannot take into account all the variables of light and dark, adjusting itself usually to the darkest area and over-exposing the film or vice versa.
2. Move up close to the painting and take meter readings through your camera’s viewfinder of the darkest passage, adjusting your lens opening until you center the needle on its scale in your viewfinder.
3. Take meter readings of the lighter passages using the same method.
4. Find the F stop on your lens or in the viewfinder that falls directly between those two readings. For example, if you have a lower reading of F5.6 and your larger reading is F11 the middle of those two readings will be F8.

Bracketing
Having established the basic exposure you will next bracket your shots by shooting six (assuming you want extra slides) at the middle setting. You will next shoot six more at the lower setting (F5.6 in the above example) and finally six at the F11 setting. Total shots at this point are 18, or half a roll of 36 exposure transparency film. This means you will have exposures for only two paintings on one roll of film. You can adjust the number of photos taken from 6 to 3 each if you’d like, giving you enough film for four paintings instead of two. You’ll have a few less slides of each painting, but that’s up to you.

The time of day is important; high noon is a no-no if you can possibly avoid it. Better times are in the morning around 10 or 11 am or later in the day, 3 to 5 pm. During daylight saving time, you could shoot at noon as the light is not directly overhead. Just remember, the more harsh the light (higher contrast), the less rich color you’ll have in your slide.

You’ll want to adjust the angle of your painting to the sun to keep it from picking up bright spots--easily done by moving the easel or support to an angle left or right to the sun, until the light is coming more from one side. Acrylic painters have difficulty with shiny spots on their paintings, but with watercolor this is usually not a problem as there are few if any shiny spots to consider. You’ll find it important to keep the light to one side; if you don’t, you’ll cast a shadow on the painting itself as the light should be behind you and slightly to the left or right.

Speaking of light, when photographing your painting remember to wear a dark shirt, preferable black, as your painting will reflect light onto your shirt, which will in turn reflect the color of your shirt back onto your painting; red shirt, red tint to the painting. Though subtle, it can change the color of your painting, so be careful.

Set the camera angle to the same angle as the painting. When the above adjustments are made, set your easel with the painting at an angle, bottom side closer to the camera than the top side, and adjust the angle until the best light is falling on the painting. Next adjust the camera angle to correspond to the angle of the painting. Move the camera in such a way as to eliminate as much key-stoning as possible, though it is sometimes difficult to eliminate it entirely. “Key-stoning” is what happens when one looks up the side of a building; it’s smaller at the top than at the bottom. This effect also happens left to right; the painting may distort in either direction making this portion of the photo process somewhat time consuming. Get it as straight as possible on all four sides—this will save you much time and chagrin when you tape your slides, a discussion to come later.

Four-value exposure guide.
This is a helpful little piece of thin board with a four-value scale from white to black. Just prior to shooting, attach this to your painting off to one side (remember to include it in the photo; you will tape it out later so it doesn’t appear in the image) This value scale will give the photo processor a reference point by which to make duplicates of your original slide should you desire to do so. Also, should you become famous and you work published, the value scale will give the printer an accurate method of measuring the color of your painting. If you’re shooting digitally, it is an absolute necessity to have this attached to your painting as that is the only reference point available to the digital processor that will allow him a measure of success in duplicating your painting accurately.

Make your exposures. The moment of truth has arrived. When your roll of film is finished, take it for processing. You can request your film be mounted as slides or finished as one long strip of film. I advise those trying “my method” to experiment with a roll of film, noting the exposures on a sheet of paper so you can use them as a guide next time you photo your paintings. For your first roll of film, it would help to order your slides unmounted; it is somewhat easier to judge your exposures when they’re in a long strip. However, this has some built-in complications in that you must cut them apart and insert them in the slide mounts yourself, necessitating the purchase of slide mounts.

Expose your first roll of film before you need to photo for a show! Learn how to do it by seeing the results of your effort--you won’t regret it. It will also help you in calibrating your camera’s exposure using your written notes, so you’ll have a place from which to start next time, even though you may choose to use the same method as before. Eventually you’ll become accomplished enough to use only two exposures instead of three.

In Part 2, I’ll discuss the use of tungsten lighting to copy your work indoors. This involves a different type of film and does not rely on the weather for its success. I’ll diagram ways to set up lights, the kind of lights to use; reflectors for the lights, etc. In Part 2 we’ll take a look at the best way to tape slides and discuss other information relating to producing a beautiful slide.

You should note that photographing your paintings indoors requires the purchase of lights, light stands and other items. You will need enough open space in your studio or house to allow for this additional equipment.

This article continues in Photographing Art II and Photographing Art Part III

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