How to take quality photographs of your painting using a mobile phone

As an artist, you invest a lot of time and effort in creating a piece of art. Your artwork conveys a lot about you, and your sense of style. You put a lot of effort into ensuring its longevity. So, what is the best way to document it?

We can’t carry our collection with us. But we can share the photographs of the artworks on different social networking apps like Instagram and Facebook. If you take amazing pictures of your new artwork, you may quickly show it to your friends and family.

Lighting

Taking your painting off the easel away from standard household lamps and placing it in natural daylight will make the biggest difference to almost every aspect of the photography process but primarily color accuracy.

• Use bright, indirect natural lighting.
• Natural light fluorescent bulbs can also be a good choice,
• Avoid deep shadows and dappling effects.
• Position the lights and the artwork carefully before taking the photo.

How to frame shot

Ensure that everything you want in the shot is there and ready to capture. The most important aspect of any photograph is its framing; it determines how viewers will interpret it. However, framing is highly individualized, and mastering it can take a lot of practice. Make your picture wider than it has to be because you can always trim it later.

Never use flash 

If you frequently find yourself using flash because the entire subject is dimly lit, you're definitely capturing inside photos in low light. Avoid doing this. However, a flash is a fantastic choice for illuminating shadows in direct sunshine.

Clean the lens

Over time the camera lens can collect dust and create a blurred image. To click clear photographs, just give the lens a good wipe with a clean cloth and you are good to go!

Hang your artwork on the wall

We frequently see photographs of artwork taken at a downward angle while leaning up against a wall. Find a wall that is a neutral colour (white, black, or grey) and hang your artwork so that the centre of it is parallel to where your camera will be. 

Skip ZOOM 

Never use your smartphone's zoom feature. This, in my opinion, is the initial mistake made while using a smartphone camera. Use your legs and move if you want to close in on something!

Use photo editing apps

Plenty of apps specifically designed for smartphones' cameras make mobile photography fantastic. For editing your work, these tools are really useful. While issues like poor lighting cannot be fixed, other details can be enhanced to make the image appear sharpened. This  enables you to put other effects over the picture. 

Find your favorite photo editing app, learn to use it well, and you can take your already awesome image onto the next level. (We recommend Snapseed)

Take multiple photos

Start taking pictures once you complete the artwork. Some of the photos will likely be out of focus, so you can subsequently delete them and just upload the highest-quality ones. 

Finally, take the picture

Whenever you push the shutter button, keep your hand steady. After taking the photo, keep your phone in a position that will allow it to be recorded. In many situations, you will only get a blur if you move right away after pushing the shutter button! 

Reference:

• https://productpictips.com/how-to-photograph-your-art-for-instagram/
• https://m.wikihow.com/Take-a-Good-Picture-On-Your-Camera-Phone
• https://willkempartschool.com/how-to-photograph-your-paintings-with-your-iphone/