How to Photograph Artwork, Part 1: What Equipment You Need - Options & Advice

How to photograph your artwork at home to a professional standard using a 2 light set-up. A video in 3 parts. *Updates below*

Part One:
What equipment you need.
Camera-buying tips.
Lenses, lighting, tripods, monitors, colour and grey cards, filters, software and calibration.
What you need for cross polarisation photography to remove glare from oil paintings.

Next Parts:
Part 2; https://youtu.be/5i0cXLU2ubI​
Part 3: https://youtu.be/KpWULdjLuNk​

*UPDATE*

One thing I missed out in this video is that some lights are better for colour accuracy than others, and this is expressed using a CRI rating. A higher rating, particularly above 85-90, will give you more accurate colours out of the box. You can, of course, correct your colours in post production, but starting off as accurately as possible is good practice. Your should be able to find the CRI rating of a light in the retailer's product description.

Another thing I should have talked about is light modifiers. Softboxes and umbrellas make a light source bigger and more diffused, creating softer shadow. For shooting flat art reproduction, I don't think they're really necessary. However if you paint with really heavy impasto, if your work is sculptural, or if you work really big and are shooting in a smaller space, then you may want to consider rectangular softboxes. I always use modifiers for product shots such as framed work. White umbrellas are an alternative to softboxes for smaller subjects - they're not as good, but are much cheaper.

A bit more on lighting options: Studio strobes are what professionals generally use, but are relatively expensive and complicated to use. Speedlights are great addition to any photographer's kit - I use mine loads, including to shoot artwork, but they may be slightly underpowered to use at optimum aperture with polarising filters (with strobes, you can’t extend the shutter speed to compensate for lower light levels). I love my Godox SL60Ws, they're awesome - they're powerful, well-built, colour accurate, easy to use, and relatively cheap.

In the video I suggest a full frame camera is a necessity for printing work. I should say - this was based on me judging the results of my old APSC camera and lens combination not to be of a good enough standard for professional reproduction (ie to sell as prints). However you may get better results from yours, or have different standards! I have since upgraded my equipment and will discuss giclée printing in a future video.

Macro lenses are great for shooting artwork, as they're generally designed to be sharp. However some other prime lenses (admittedly, usually more expensive ones) are also designed to be super sharp and will also give you great results. For excellent lens reviews I recommend Christopher Frost and Dustin Abbott (links below).

I perhaps under-emphasised the importance of having a decent, regularly calibrated monitor. They are your window into your raw file. If colour accuracy is important to you, definitely get a monitor made for photographers and designers: an IPS panel with high colour accuracy and at least 100% sRGB colour gamut (100% Adobe RGB is ideal if you’re printing, though they are more expensive), and a calibrator/colorimeter.

CaptureOne Pro is apparently a good alternative to Lightroom.

My specific camera recommendations are probably out of date since making this video, and I'm not really a gear reviewer. I think my general recommendations are sound though. Decide your budget first and work to that. There are so many good camera reviewers on YouTube (links below) - a quick bit of research will give you some good options. Upgrade when you hit a wall with your current gear - when you find it can't do what you want it to.

Apologies to my wife, Claire, for dissing her tripod lol!

Links:

Lens & Camera Reviews
Christopher Frost: https://www.youtube.com/user/christopherfrost
Dustin Abbott: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrmU_ja6Ea7G1RYGfy3zeVA
DP Review: https://www.youtube.com/user/dpreviewcom

Specialist UK camera stores:
Wex Photographic: https://www.wexphotovideo.com
Park Cameras: https://www.parkcameras.com
MPB: https://www.mpb.com

Vanguard Alta Pro 2 with Ball Head:
https://www.wexphotovideo.com/vanguard-alta-pro-2-263ab-100-head-1624329/?mkwid=sQcInCe2A_dc&pcrid=324804596582&kword=&match=&plid=&product=1624329&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8KXMh5Pi6gIV2-vtCh3nIgJTEAQYASABEgJJKfD_BwE

Polarising Filters
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polarization-Polarizer-Educational-Physics-Polarized/dp/B079D6W7Y6/ref=pd_sbs_3?pd_rd_w=26biL&pf_rd_p=448c740b-5b83-47fd-809b-6bedb049b25c&pf_rd_r=NGHPM5RV3YMFBMKWET35&pd_rd_r=842f1b43-3bc6-45c0-89c7-b26b6d2ec7a9&pd_rd_wg=RAjEu&pd_rd_i=B079D6W7Y6&psc=1

Видео How to Photograph Artwork, Part 1: What Equipment You Need - Options & Advice канала Will J Bailey