Equipment

• Digital Camera

  Camera: 20MP or higher (you must be able to control both the f-stop and the shutter speed in the camera)

  Smartphone: less than 3 years old (use camera on the back of the phone rather than front facing)

• Lens

  Camera: 50 mm lens and (optional) a Macro lens

  Smartphone: (optional) Macro lens attachment

• Tripod

  Camera

  Smart phone adapter

• Color Card (see camera instruction manual for use)

Natural Light

• Diffused natural daylight from windows with bright, overcast skies is ideal

• Turn off overheard light

• If the sun is too bright, the light can be diffused by hanging sheer fabric over the window

• 10am – 4pm is ideal to achieve the most accurate color rendition

• Be aware of any shadows cast in the camera frame by the work, the equipment, and your body

• Sculpture: distance the work from wall to avoid shadow

Artificial Light

• Use 2-4 clamp lights and smart bulbs (set to daylight white or 5000K – 6500K) so you can adjust the color temperature and brightness

• If your overhead lighting doesn’t match the color temperature of the clamp light bulbs, turn it off

• Wall-mounted work: put one clamp light on each side aimed at center of work at opposing 45-degree angles

• Sculpture: turn light brightness all the way up and point the lights at a white ceiling to diffuse light; reduce shadow on the back of the piece by standing white foam core outside of the camera frame to the side of the work which will bounce light into the shadow; to add shadows direct the lights at the piece from the front or side

Settings

• Camera

  Turn on grid settings (see images: can be used to make sure your camera is square on the work to avoid keystoning)

  Mode: AV mode

  ISO: 100

  Image quality: raw or large jpeg (if you have never worked with raw files)

  Aperture/F-Stop: between f-8 and f-11 (f-8 if your space is on the darker side / f-11 if you have plenty of light)

  Shutter speed: will set automatically based on f-stop and light

  Timer: 1-3 second delay to eliminate shake from pressing shutter

  Focus: depress shutter button halfway until you hear a beep, indicating that autofocus is locked; press the shutter the rest of the way to take the photograph

• Smartphone

  Grid option: on

  Image quality: jpeg

  Flash: off

  iPhone Live: off

  Timer: 1-3 second delay to eliminate shake from pressing shutter

  Focus/Exposure: tap the work on your screen to lock focus and exposure

Shot List

• Front View with and without floor line

• 45° angle left and right

• Scale view with person or furniture

• Vertical and horizontal details (use macro lens if possible)

• For sculpture, add side views and back view

Image Editing

• Straighten the image and correct any keystoning to make edges of work square

• Wall and floor should be cleaned of defects like holes, dirt, and scratches

• Desaturate the wall to make it an even, neutral tone (not a pure white void), this will neutralize any color cast on the wall

• Crop full front view and angled views of the work relatively close to the work, but don’t crop any shadows cast by the work

• For high-resolution file, save as tiff or psd, if possible, in 8-bit with color profile Adobe RGB or Working RGB and set longest dimension to 10" with maximum possible dpi/resolution (minimum of 300)

• For low-resolution file to be used for email and website, save as jpg and set resolution to 72 dpi