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How to Photograph Your Artwork Part 3: Lighting

Studio Lighting

The best thing about studio lighting is that you have complete control over it. (I’ve tried to photograph my work before outside when it was windy and I almost destroyed a painting.) You need photographer’s lights, stands, and umbrellas. The stand will let you adjust the height of the light. The photography umbrellas will disperse the light evenly. The lights need to be equidistant from the piece and coming out at a 45 degree angles from the wall at opposite sides of the art. So, there is a 90 degree angle between them and the center of the art work. This will give you the best even lighting. Some paintings will produce a glare at this angle. You may adjust the lights to see if you can get rid of it. As you do that try to keep the lighting even on the surface of the work.

It is best if you use a light meter so that you can tell for sure if the surface of the painting is lit evenly. To do this you hold the meter in front of different areas of the painting and see if the light meter reading changes.

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