Equipment for shooting artwork

Question

I have been posed the following question in one of my assignments. I would like to get some feedback on my answer, and possible some suggestions :).

"A large art gallery has hired you to photograph every individual framed painting in the gallery for an upcoming exhibition. They require colour accurate copies of the artwork for use in a catalogue."

And this is my response to the question.

Chosen Equipment: Transportable studio flash gear, Tripod, 20mm lens, 135mm lens

Explanation: Given that the art gallery is going to use colour accurate copies of the artwork for use in a catalogue, a transportable studio flash gear is important so that the correct exposure is achieved, so as to not darken or lighten to much the colours of the artwork. The tripod is needed so as to minimise the amount rotatation adjustment in post production and to get proper dimensions of the artwork. Preferably the camera on the tripod should be adjusted in such a way that the sensor is parallel to the artwork. As for lens choices, i would choose the 20mm and the 135mm prime lenses. The 20mm, just in case there are some very wide paintings so that they can fit on frame and the 135mm so that the painting can be easily framed from a distance. DOF should not be an issue here since, these are catalouge shots.

What do you guys think?

Answer 1

1. A flexible tripod with a level from a good brand
2. A platform with two/three steps for shooting the artwork from an appropriate level (you may need, sometime)
3. Consult the curator whether they will allow you to use a flash or not. Because in some art studios, it's strictly forbidden to use flash during taking a photo. If they allow using flash, get a ETTL flash (430 Ex II/580 Ex II for Canon is a good one) for correctly exposing the shots at ease.
4. As you will have tripod, you will not suffer from the risk of shaking or low-light. So get a good lens which will give you better color contrast and sharpness. If you are using Canon, go for EF 17-40 f/4L or 24-70 f/2.8 L
5. If they use glass in front of those artworks, a CPL filter will be very very handy to avoid reflections of any kind on those glasses.
6. A reflector may be useful in some cases, buy/rent only if you have some bucks left.

Last, always shoot in raw for such types of works which you will save your time to correct the white balance during post processing. Try shooting in full frame to get better dynamic range and color than crops.

Good luck :)

Answer 2

If you can use flash, get polarizing film for your flashes. Use a polarizer on your camera lens. This combination will allow you to evenly light the artwork and then "dial out" the reflections off the artwork.

Answer 3

I shoot artwork regularly with my Nikon D300, i use a Nikon 50mm 1.4f on arounf 10f, 2x studio flashes, a tripod, and a colour chart.

mount the artwork directly in front of the camera, 90 degrees in all directions.

always shoot raw, and use a circular polarising filter.

IF the artwork is oil, you may need to experiment with flash/ light positioning to avoid reflections off the shiney areas.