Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-11)

G ART

ABOVEUsinga

digitalSLRgives

youthebest

chanceofsecuring

a clearshot

Top tip

Whenphotographing

yourart,

four putatleast

metresbetween

thecamera

your and

work

willlikelyproducethebestresults,

asthewarmthoflightchanges

dramaticallyatdawnanddusk

creatinginconsistenciesbetween

photosthatcallforlengthypost-edits.

However,notallofusworkinsuch

favourablearchitecturalsetupsand

soinlieuofa lightandairystudio

spacewitha North-facingwindow,

youmaywishtofakeit untilyoumake

it.Artificiallightscaneasilybe

implementedtoilluminatedarker

studios,butit’simportanttoconsider

thebalanceandanglingofyour

sources.Overpoweringordirectlight

canobscureyourartworkandcreate

unnecessaryglare,whileweakand

unbalancedsourceswillresultin

“falloff”,whereonehalfofyour

artworkis darkerthantheother.

Forthebestresultsunderartificial

lights,youshouldusetwolight

sources.Professional-grade

photographiclightswhichcomewith

mountedfiltersarebest,butyou

couldalsousehalogenfloodlights

suchasthoseyoumightbuyforyour

garden.Togettherightbalance,

ASKTHEEXPERTS

Professionalartphotographer

EvaHerzogshareshersecrets

1.Findclarity

If youwanttophotographoil

paintingsoranyvarnishedworks,

makesureyouusea lenswith

a longerfocallength(50mm

minimum)asthiswillmagnifythe

artworkgivingyouthebest

chanceofgettinga clearshot.

2.Trya softtouch

Whendepictingthetextureofa

paintingis notascrucial,youcan

usetoolssuchasphotographic

umbrellasorsoftboxestosoften

artificiallightsources.

Alternatively,youcanusetracing

paperorlightfabricasa filterfor

thelight– aslongasit’snottoo

closetothelightsourcewhich

cangetextremelyhot.

3.Balancecolours

If youaregoingtocorrectthe

colourbalanceina post-edit,

purchasinga colourreference

card(picturedleft)willmakeit

easierforyoureditingsoftware’s

colourbalancingtools.

Formoreinformationonhavingyour

workphotographed,contactEva

Herzogatwww.evaherzog.co.uk

Artwork

Camera

45°

45°

Lightsource Light source

RIGHT This diagram shows the aerial view
of the set-up on page 66. Placing two light
sources at 45-degree angles gives more
balanced results when photographing art

Artists & Illustrators 67