How to photograph your art

My guide to taking the best possible photos of your artwork, using simple lighting and camera techniques.
Production and direction by Tyler Stalman & Jason Eng
Created for saatchionline.com

[@cuppojane1083]

This will help a lot of students. When I was in art school, they didn't give many tips for digitizing art when posting for online classes. Window light is what I always suggested. The only issue is if you're in a spot where window light wash over the artwork evenly.

[@Verdoux007]

It's really rare for a KZbin video to be this perfect. I wish more people would put this much effort into their videos.

[@thomasraven]

I noticed a few comments regarding lens distortion. Since lenses are spherical in nature, they tend to bend straight lines. This can be corrected in Photoshop by using the Lens Correction filter, but it isn't simple. I prefer to minimize the effect by moving the camera lens a bit further from the subject and then optically zooming in to fill the sensor. Be careful not to engage a camera's digital zoom.

[@mrdavidsferrier]

That guy. What a cool dude.

[@sitinij]

Who is on your avatar picture?

[@talmiz3588]

summary: positioning& lighting: 1) make art 2) if it's canvas-great. if on loose paper / cardboard , match to something that can hang\lean on the wall. 3) choose location with bright soft light. (harsh direct lighting can cast shadows\create reflections & shift the colors.) a large window is good. in an overcast day you can shoot outdoors. camera handling: 4) set iso to 100 or 200 (depending on the camera model) 5) use a microfiber cloth to clean any dirt or smudges off of your lens. 6) make sure camera wont move while taking pictures. use tripod. or flat level surface. 7) make sure work angle is parallel to the lens of camera. tilt the camera to match angle. 8) - if photographing an installation or sculpture, use clean background. the work should be the only object. 9) leave small amount of space between the canvas and the frame. (this will max the image quality) 10) position camera vertically/horizontally to match angle of canvas. 11) no flash 12)you should adjust the white in the image to the white you see. if camera is making it orange\blue, try using preset to your lighting environment. (in this case: daylight) 13) shut other lightsources. (wont mix well with the other light) 14) use self-timer to keep camera still while shooting. 15) zoom in a little. (not too much & not no zoom) 16) aperture set to f8 after shooting: 17) look: is the shot too dark\light? use exposure compensation in your camera to correct it. 18) the color&exposure in photo should be as close as possible to the original artwork. 19) too much computer manipulation can ruin image file. 20) make sure focus is good (not too soft\blurry) 21) take several shots 22) dont pack until you look in the computer (big screen shows flaws) you may need to retake photos. on the computer: 23) crop so there's no edges 24) double check 25) zoom in and retouch photo problems. 26) boost contrast to equal original but not too much. 27) save as .jpeg and save it in max quality. hope the summary was helpful. if it was say hi :)

[@sadiyaui]

lol that 2 second masterpiece!

[@stevecardenaz6903]

Thanks Tyler, This was a simple, straight forward tutorial. It turns out I use a Canon camera quite similar to the one in the video, and have two rooms in my house with excellent lighting, as you used in the video. My quick photographing session,after watching your video, produced some fine results, and I am sure I will improve in the future.

[@KurizuArtworks]

best video presentation i've ever seen. THANKS!

[@gkcorlett]

Very professional presentation. Straight to the point. Thanks.

[@theGiantAngryRobot]

the quality of your editing is just awesome and the overall value is through the roof, please keep churning these out they are great!

[@d.b.3644]

Thank you so much! You did an awesome job presenting this tutorial on photographing artwork!

[@PatGillin]

Best video so far on this subject. Comprehensive and extremely useful. Thank you.

[@DuochromeFilms]

He mentions using daylight to photograph with but I can clearly see him using fluorescent bulbs on the side of the painting. Makes me wonder just how many lights were really being used in that session.

[@Edward_T_Martin]

Thanks for the video, clear and concise and exceptionally helpful. Really appreciate your calm approach to it all, rather than the over-caffeinated yelling that goes on in most videos.

[@sammariofan]

Excellent video /presentation skills

[@SueRead]

A quick click and it gave me everything I wanted to know. Great video.

[@brianmorris1924]

This is a great teaching tool that shows how, for the beginning artist, to get quality photos of one's art for sharing on line. A tremendously important idea. As far as I could tell, I simply need the right camera and a tripod.

[@FPSGamingShot]

Then there’s me, just setting it on the floor and taking a picture with my phone XD

[@tsuttonart]

me as well I try not to overthink things. haha

[@lusciousthecat]

Great suggestions and I can only add getting the best camera possible really helps. Great glass great pictures.

[@stephenarling1667]

More money spent on the camera suggests the usual rule of diminishing returns. The greatest improvements are in going from crappy cameras to adequate cameras. The adequate compact he is using is capable of making entirely adequate images if it is properly used.

[@sk8boardinmonkey]

It's nice to see you back with more of your inspirational work! So far the ratings are at 100% - I agree..

[@thisismytube03]

The explanation about everything was pretty good and easy to understand. Thanks a lot!.

[@DarkAgent80]

A great video! It was informative and straight to the point! I would love to see you do a video on portrait photography, things like equipment choices and different lighting options. Indoor and outdoor would be great, but Id settle for an indoor one. :) Welcome back! This video was really top notch!

[@wylyastley]

Excellent video and instructions. I appreciated the pace and extra tips on how to best export and save my image on my hard drive. Thank you.

Quick, helpful and quality video and tutorial for all viewers, DSLR and Compact... Really good video, Thank you and I hope there will be more

[@mosheroams]

Great video and very helpful. I try to scan stuff if I can, and If I have access to a good quality scanner, but using a camera is definably a great way to go for larger or more textured art, or when a scanner just isn't available. Thanks for the upload.

[@javihernandez100]

Keep making videos man. I have learn so much from you. Thank you for all your help

[@AshvinHarrison]

Great Video. I've been getting blurred sections on the wider areas of my art works, now I know why. Thanks again. :)

[@ToddTheGenius]

This was literally the most helpful video I've ever seen regarding this subject! Great job!

[@JeanneSilver]

Absolutely stunning

[@vanessam526]

Thank you for being so clear!

[@martinaee]

LOL I would totally hang up that painting... you are an artiiistee!!!

[@halflearned2190]

Man, the videos were already super sharp and clean 10 years ago

[@i_v]

This was great. So great in fact that I watched it twice. Come back Mr.Stalman!

[@italianpearlsrock]

Please make more videos, yours are so clear to understand (and really good quality!)

[@CaitlinElizabeth37]

This helps so much! The last video I watched, some guy was dragging his mini scanner all over his painting and I was about to go insane! Thanks. :D

[@clopez6768]

cool guy, excellent presentation, direct and to the point loved this

[@lucretiaonutube]

Thanks for this professional and clear video!

[@lynnymyoung]

Really well done video! Thank you so much for taking the time to make such an easy to follow, clean video. Best wishes.

[@ChaseZachary]

Thank you very much for your straight forward explanation here! I was struggling finding any decent ones.

[@stalman]

Thanks for the warm welcome back everyone. I'm really excited to have something new to post. This was created for Saatchi Online, to help artists photograph their art for print, so less of a geeky photo vibe than usual.

[@aellis8899]

Best tutorial ever.

[@00gusman00]

Good to see you back!

[@bedubble]

good job on changing the style for this video, great presentation

[@niallmacceide4603]

Thanks for that. Very difficult to photograph 2D artwork well and your video helps a lot.

[@louiseanne298]

Thank You for your Photography tips....they were very Informative!

[@MelanieElaineH]

Your video is informative (thank you.) It is very nicely done. Congratulations.

[@TanyaElbournArt]

So useful thanks Tyler

[@mikel4510]

Great video! Thanks

[@ValdasRBK]

the best tutorial ive ever seen so far :D

[@susan1870]

Thank you! Setting up my gear now to try and get a great shot! Camera setup is always my downfall so thanks for the specifics!!!!

[@Morn2moon]

Thank you so much, clear, direct and understandable instructions. Really appreciate this :-)

[@DaSkaterMunk]

TYLER! I've missed you! I Wanna see the good old Stalman talks Photography! Hey, btw Remember to upload as podcast in iTunes! :) Good to see some from you again.

[@creativeartbyluvensky]

This is very helpful. Thanks

[@DuochromeFilms]

The best is .RAW files. This way you can control EVERYTHING that is in that file. But lage size Jpegs can still get you fantastic photos. Don't feel like you NEED a raw format camera, you can get almost all the same things with a good knowledge of photoshop.

[@autentyk5735]

Short & sweet. Thanks!

[@omgchrishart]

Awesome, some nice tips in here, thanks

[@hancockteeshirtcollections9897]

Thanks yo!!! crispy and clear! !

[@IllusArt]

Thanks, really needed this.

[@Indiegaze]

Damn! I actually like that picture! I want that, lol.

[@johnnybrazil01]

OUTSTANDING video! 2 thumbs up Tyler ^_^

[@Kuntudog]

Helped with my college apps thanks!

[@mikebmcquaid]

The edges of the artwork are not straight in the viewfinder. They are curving slightly. This distortion is the biggest problem when shooting artwork (or one of them). No answers provided in this video.

[@roccofili3054]

Try using warp tool in photoshop

[@tjc958]

Lightroom has a checkbox that takes your lens info from your metadata and automatically corrects the distortion/warp

[@jamesaltonfilms]

That’s called barrel distortion and as another user said, you can is “Lens Profile Correction” in Adobe Lightroom to compensate. The trick for this issue that should have been explained in the video is that barrel distortion occurs when the artwork (or any object) is too close to the edge of the lens. Two things should help: give it slightly more space away from the edges of the frame and crop in. The other is to use f/8 and not f/1.4 or whatever your lens minimum is. If those are adhered to and you still have an issue, it’s probably an issue with the lean/angle of your artwork versus your camera, it’s something I haven’t thought about or it’s your camera system itself and I’d david borrowing a different camera setup from a friend.

[@VeryPrivateGallery]

My trick is to walk one step away and zoom in a bit. So that it reduces the distortion from the wide angles.

[@YeahImBigBoss]

This is an absolutely fantastic and helpful video. Excellent presentation/overall quality, as well. Thank you so much for this.

[@OnlineCollegeofArtandDesign]

amazing!

[@wheelmanstan]

wow, thanks a lot, I have the hardest time photographic my paintings with artificial lighting, so more more of that I guess, plus you gave me a great idea for a zombie painting

[@tigerprincevincey]

some people will pay out their butts for that painting. Art is neat

[@ericnavag]

very good... thanks a lot. Do you have any video to picture sculptures? or ceramic?

[@david4134]

Great video

[@Ayojjosh.aartist]

i learned so much in 4mins thank you

[@matthewmcknight7512]

This really helped. Thanks dude.

[@kaizenguy12345]

awesome video. I paid a studio to take my pictures. Now I will . Thanks to the video training.

[@GinaCowins]

Thanks, I learned how to use my camera.

[@Bernie1927]

Wonderful video. Thanks

[@nrjf1212]

welcome back!

[@OfficialMyxomatosis]

A very simple *INTRODUCTION* to art photography.

[@fdh1004]

A lot of very good advice in a short video. Good work.

[@KnivesMonroe]

este vato muy chingon, mira! Awesome video man.

[@katsokol8227]

Thank you! This was extremely helpful. I have an 8 x 10 print of a black and white photograph. I shot using the methods you suggested and it came out great! It is on epson velvet fine art paper. When I put it on saatchi I don't want to bend the paper. Should I suggest the shipping option with a box and use a rigid flat mailer???? Just starting out. Thank you!

[@sleepysilversmith5339]

This is perfect! Thanks so much!

[@JanG1887]

Nice to see u again :)

[@dreamrabbits5072]

Wow, can't believe this was shot almost 11 years ago!!!

[@AnthonyQuinnVisuals]

Nice, first upload since I subscribed!

[@DianeEzer]

Excellent tips.

[@DesDrukStiv]

Great guide. How did set up the lights for this sequence?

[@DieWundeBliebt]

I feel like this video itself can be an artwork.

[@5wingerone]

Very good video! Thank you! :)

[@Lynnyb44]

This video was BEYOND helpful. Thank you so much!!

[@samaraisnt]

What kind of brush did you use there? What a surprisingly wonderful video. :)

[@John_21601]

Well done!

[@staceygoring313]

Very helpful 👍🏽

Thank you, pretty cool

[@iamnow8]

Omg that painting is amazing, have you got anymore?

[@FlopsyGuitarBunny]

You're kidding right?

[@SmokingOils]

Hi, you say to set the camera to f8 and put it on a tripod... if your using a DSLR is there any reason why you wouldn't use f16, f22 or f36 wouldn't that increase depth of field and therefore sharpness?

[@stephenarling1667]

Smaller aperture would increase DOF, perhaps helpful for photographing three-dimensional art. Smaller aperture usually reduces sharpness a little bit though. This is called the diffraction limiting effect, and results from the wave nature of light. Most lenses are sharpest in the middle of their aperture range.

[@dfhdjlfh]

great video.

[@SashiMashiStories]

Awesome!

[@lucysour]

Great tips!

[@marietaylor2221]

What camera is this?

[@lucillefemine]

What about using a phone camera? I have an LG V10

[@stalman]

+Lucille Femine You can use whatever camera you have available, but keep in mind that if a lower quality camera will always perform better with more light

[@lucillefemine]

That's good to know. But phone cameras don't have large image sensors like DSLRs. Is this compensated for with light?

[@koenignero]

The Painting is actually not that bad.

[@scweedee7310]

He takes a paint brush with red paint, then slaps it right on... BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK!

[@roccofili3054]

I hope ur ironic

[@tobiaszgottfriedstudio4090]

Ha! I think the same :D

[@josephliao9733]

The sad part is that painting can probably sell for millions of dollars if it was painted by a famous abstract artsy

[@iDiegoDesigner]

Good Professional Video! :)