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8d • 🎨 Art and Business 💻
Photographing Your Artwork: Make It Look Like the Original
Have you ever finished a painting, taken a photo, and immediately thought…
“Why doesn’t it look like my artwork?”
You’re not alone.
Most of the time, it isn’t your camera~ it’s the lighting.
Here are a few things that make a huge difference:
🎨 Use Even Lighting
Place two lights at roughly 45° angles to your artwork, one on each side. This creates even illumination across the surface and helps minimize harsh shadows.
☀️ Natural Light Works Too
A bright, overcast day or indirect window light can produce beautiful, even lighting. Just avoid direct sunlight, which creates hot spots and washes out colors.
📸 Keep Your Camera Parallel
If your camera is tilted, your artwork will look distorted. Keep your camera centered and as parallel to the artwork as possible.
📐 Fill the Frame
Crop tightly while still showing the entire piece. The artwork should be the focus—not the wall around it.
✨ Watch for Glare
Gloss varnishes, metallic paints, resin, and glass all love to reflect light.
If you notice glare, don’t move the camera first.
Move your lights.
Even shifting a light a few inches can dramatically reduce reflections.
🎨 Check Your Colors
Our eyes naturally compensate for different lighting conditions. Cameras don’t.
Use consistent daylight-balanced lighting and check your white balance so your colors stay true to the original.
🧹 Clean Before You Shoot
Dust, fingerprints, and stray fibers are much easier to spot in a photograph than they are in person. A quick wipe-down can save you editing time later.
Try photographing the same artwork with just one change at a time~ move a light, adjust the camera height, or change the angle slightly.
You’ll be surprised how much a small adjustment can improve the final image.
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Photographing Your Artwork: Make It Look Like the Original
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