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I could use some help.
I have a difficult time taking good pictures of my plates & bowls. No fancy camera....using either my cell phone or iPad.
Any suggestions for better pictures? I've put pieces on a light box, but that distorts the colors. Also tried putting the pieces on a while piece of paper. It is hard for me to have an accurate representation of the colors. Shadows also are a problem.
Thanks
Susan

Wander through this: http://bermangraphics.com/digital-jury- ... ng-art.htm
There are lots of other resources available, google "photographing your art".

Basically, you'll want a seamless background with no distractions (like a wrinkled sheet!) and at least a couple of lights (you'll have to play with them to reduce or gain shadows, eliminate highlights, etc.). I don't know what the iPad is capable of but I'd invest in a camera. Ask Artcraft Camera in Kingston if they've got decent used ones (or borrow one from a friend).
Or if you don't want to get that involved, there must be photographers in Woodstock who could help out.

Marty - that site is a terrific resource. thanks for linking it.

Susan - my spouse is a photographer but since we're in Cincinnati, he can't help you. He'd also agree with Marty that a cell phone is a lousy camera for anything other than snapshots.

If you don't know any local photographers, see if there are photo clubs nearby. Photographers like to improve their skills and will since glass is challenge to shoot well. Trade them that skill building opportunity for finished images of your work.

The phone (depending on which one you have or the IPad can take decent pictures... not magazine quality, but for displaying on the web, they should be decent enough. The problem isn't the camera in the phone or IPad, it's the file. You will need to copy (or send) the image file to your computer so you can tweak it. If you have a photo editing program, it should do all the basic stuff... correct color, sharpen, crop, etc. There are a number of photo editing programs on the internet, some are free (like Gimp) or very inexpensive. Some have 30 day trial periods so you can try them out to make sure it will do what you want and that you don't need a 4 year photo degree to figure it out. Just Google Photo editing program.

If you don't have the ability to edit the image, you will find that it's a lot easier to find someone that is willing to work on them for you than it will be to take pictures and do it the way you want. I'd be glad to take a look at a couple to see if you are getting decent enough pictures that a little tweaking will be usable for you. You just have to be able to email the files. You may know someone around you that already had the photo editing software that came with their camera.

If you want to take pictures cheaply, take your light box outside on a sunny or hazy or even cloudy day if it's not real thick clouds and take your pictures there. A lot of people do this and get very good pictures. If you have a good picture other than the color is off, that's not a problem because color can be corrected very easy with most software by clicking auto color. Most cameras let you set your color balance but I don't think a phone or IPad do, although most of the pictures I've gotten with a phone or IPad didn't need correcting for what we were using them for .

Mike

Thanks for the replies & information.
Great reference website, Marty
Thanks Mike for the Idea of editing in photoshop. it did not occur to me but I think should solve most of my problems.
Risa....my spouse is also a photographer. He'll do the photoshop work for me.

Susanbuckler wrote:Thanks for the replies & information.
Great reference website, Marty
Thanks Mike for the Idea of editing in photoshop. it did not occur to me but I think should solve most of my problems.
Risa....my spouse is also a photographer. He'll do the photoshop work for me.

Maybe the spouse who is a photographer could be coerced into actually taking the photographs. He may have more equipment options than an iphone.

No way! Husbands don't take pictures for wives... they are too critical and demanding. I'm a very long time photographer so you don't need to ask me how I know.

Mike

Don Burt wrote:

Susanbuckler wrote:Thanks for the replies & information.
Great reference website, Marty
Thanks Mike for the Idea of editing in photoshop. it did not occur to me but I think should solve most of my problems.
Risa....my spouse is also a photographer. He'll do the photoshop work for me.

Maybe the spouse who is a photographer could be coerced into actually taking the photographs. He may have more equipment options than an iphone.

Yep. iPhone cameras are surprisingly good, but the real question here is what you're using the photos for. If you're looking for simple records of work or fast shots to stick on a blog, snap away. If you're planning to sell your work with these photos, or use them to get into a gallery of some kind, bite the bullet and get at least a few done professionally. Having served on a few juries, I can tell you that the standard joke is "they shot this with a phone," when we see a crummy photo, and there's a reason.

(Not saying you can't take fantastic photos with an iPhone. You can. But generally if all you have is an iPhone, you probably also don't have a lot of insight into the other aspects of taking great art shots: Lighting, focal plane and camera position.)

If your husband is willing to photoshop your images, seems like he'd be even happier to shoot them in the first place, and escape having to do all that extra retouch.