Photographing paintings.

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JamieB

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Jamie
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Hi all, i am after some advice for a friend of mine who paints pictures and he wants to know what sort of camera gear/lighting he'd need to be able to photograph his painting and produce quality prints (printing would be done at a print shop).

Many thanks.
Jamie
 
I would think scanning would be a better option?
 
admirable said:
I would think scanning would be a better option?
Click to expand...

I thought that.. then thought about the size of a painting? :)

Interesting question.. Off the top of my head I am thinking the more megapixels the better for soemhting like this?
 
Thank you for the replies so far, keep em coming. :)

My friend is thinking of a Nikon D90, but wonders if its a bit excessive, also he has no idea what lighting or lighting arrangements would be best and what lens too.

I've just spotted a D80 for £300 (used), would that be adequate?

Scanner would be ok, but he after high quality prints for sale so he also wants them to be same size as his paintings.

Thanks again.
 
If you want to take photographs of oil paintings the cross polorisation route is probably the best way to go.

This entails putting polorising filters on your lights and also on the lens to remove reflrctions!
 
With regards to the camera, it doesn't make any difference what make as long as it has a large enough image size to print the size that is needed. The image can of course be resized to a degree but it's best to start with the largest image size you can. You'll want a lens with very low distortion so the paintings remain straight sided. Prime lenses, macro lenses are the way to go for this sort of job.
As already suggested, if they are oil paintings then cross-polarization will probably be needed, unless you have lots of space, time and patience. You'll need polarzing gels for the lights and a polarizer for the lens. As for the lighting, a studio flash kit that is powerful enough to light the paintings evenly and provide enough light to compensate for the loss of light sucked up by the polarizing filters.
Well that's the basics of it, it deceptively tricky and at times incredibly frustrating, some colours just don't want to play nicely.
Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the reply, settled for a Nikon D5000. As a complete beginner I'm a bit cluesless about stuff like polarizing etc. What does cross polarization mean and what do you mean when you say polarizing gels for the lighting.

What sort of macro lens would i need? the guy in the photo shop said they are only useful for outdoor photo's andof no use indoors, he recommended a uv lens which i purchased as well as a tripod and case.

Also does anyone know what the best settings would be on this camera for oil painting photos?
 
Camera settings will depend on the light available to you, but as a general rule you want to aim for an aperture at about f8 which tends to give you the sharpest results, but it does depend on your lens. Yeah, just give it a go and see what the results are, then you'll see what further items you may need. I mentioned a macro lens because they are very sharp and have very little distortion, but use whatever you have and judge for yourself whether you need to invest further.
Good luck
 
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