January 1, 2009
What type of lighting should I be using for photographing paintings?
Can you answer Chaval's question about lighting?:
I need to use my Nikon D70s digital slr to photograph oil paintings and other works of art. I do not know much about lighting so I need some assistance and direction in finding the right type of lights and bulbs that would be appropriate for taking quality digital images of paintings.
I need to use my Nikon D70s digital slr to photograph oil paintings and other works of art. I do not know much about lighting so I need some assistance and direction in finding the right type of lights and bulbs that would be appropriate for taking quality digital images of paintings.
Thanks so much for your answers!
Lighting Tips
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Comments on What type of lighting should I be using for photographing paintings? »
None. flash will damage paintings over time. Use a fast lens and or crank up the ISO and use natural light.
perhaps I was a little naive in answering this question the way I did.
I like to use 150watt shop lights. you can get them at walmart or lowes or places like that.
The set up used by most photographers that shoot "insurance" photos of paintings use powerful incandescent lamps set so they evenly cover the piece of art. For pieces less than 11×14 inches is photographed using a copy stand with the painting removed from the frame. A macro lens is used and exposures can be quite long depending upon the quantity of light. They use an external, incident light meter to assure even lighting is imperative.
When shooting larger pieces, 500 watt or better incandescent lamps on stands at 45 degrees to the left and right of the painting (again use a external light meter to confirm even lighting) and the camera mounted on a tripod with the back parallel to the painting to avoid any parallax issues.
That is it. It is no different than when using film. Just be sure that 1) there is NO other light falling on the paintings and 2) your white balance is set for the colour temperature of your light source. Shooting a MacBeth colour chart (http://www.xrite.com/product_overview.aspx?ID=944 ) using your lighting would be the best way to perfectly white balance for the shoot. Of course having a computer monitor that has been calibrated is also an important piece of this project.
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