Help : How to photograph artwork without any lighting setup

Started by rhythm, August 20, 2023, 08:56:51 PM

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rhythm

Hello,

Is there any easy way to photograph an artwork, without any lighting setup. Size of the artwork is around 2ft by 3ft.

I have below photography gears
1. Nikon D800
2. Lens : 24 -120 f4, 50mm f 1.8, 85mm 1.8 and 18-35
3. Tripod
4. Circular Polarizar

Somebody advised me to keep the  artwork flat on the ground, with the camera held above it at a 90-degree angle to the ground. This should be done on overcast day and not in direct sunlight for obvious reason.

I can try this since it doesn't require any lighting setup.  Any other suggestion.

Plus what should be the idle focal length for photographing the artwork also is there any cheaper option for horizontal arm then the one listed below.
https://sirui.in/product/sirui-ha-77-horizontal-arm-online-buy-india/

Bharat Varma

Artwork is framed and flat, I presume.

You'll be far better off keeping the artwork at 45
Looking for a Rokinon/Samyang 135 F/2 Lens in excellent condition.

Also looking for a few Canon NB-10L Batteries.

rhythm

Quote from: Bharat Varma on August 20, 2023, 10:30:47 PM
Artwork is framed and flat, I presume.

You'll be far better off keeping the artwork at 45

Artwork is flat but not framed. And I have used matt color.

Thad E Ginathom

#3
It really depends on your use for the photo. Your camera will probably be better at this than you think, as long as you avoid reflections and have a fairly flat light with a reasonable colour temperature. You should probably use at least a white/grey card with whatever method your camera uses to measure custom white balance. And take a snap with the card in the picture. Even, use a full colour-swatch thingy. Worth investing in that if you are going to do this regularly.

On the other hand, if you want to make fine-art prints from the photo... Back in day (pre-digital) I used to take pictures to a specialist London photographer who made 10*8-inch transparencies using gorgeous (and probably absurdly expensive) frame cameras. And an ex-colleague later went into his own print-making business using a camera back with what was probably, then (2004-ish), an absurd number of megapixels.  I wouldn't be surprised if most of us have that many pixels on our every-day cameras now.