Taking the right picture of a piece of art can be difficult, and often the mistakes made in capturing it are simple. This post looks at five common issues that can arise when taking photos of paintings and art.

1. Framing: Don’t cut off part of the artwork or crop it too close to the edges. When photographing an artwork, try to avoid cutting off part of the image or cropping it too closely to its original size. Crop your image so that you can see as much of the original artwork as possible, including details near the edges.

2. Lighting: Keep your lighting consistent and don’t use flash when it’s not necessary. Use natural light whenever possible, and avoid using your camera’s built-in flash when it isn’t absolutely necessary (for example, when taking a photo of a painting in a dimly-lit room). When using flash, remember that it will be more flattering to your subject if you use natural light first and then add flash for shadows later; this way you won’t have any harsh shadows ruining your photo.

3. Background: Pay attention to what is in the background of your photo and choose a background that compliments or contrasts with your subject without distracting from it. In addition to choosing a background that

In my previous post I made some suggestions on taking photos of art. But sometimes you can make so many mistakes that it’s hard to know where to start!

So here are five of the biggest mistakes you can make when photographing works of art, along with some tips for avoiding them.

1. Don’t shoot into the sun: Many people think that shooting into the sun will give them better light for their painting. In reality, this is rarely true—and even if it is, you’re likely to lose too much contrast and detail in the shadows. If you’re shooting outdoors and there’s a high sun, try moving your subject (or yourself) so that it’s not facing directly at the sun. If you have no other choice but to shoot into the sun, choose a small aperture (like ƒ/16 or ƒ/22) and keep your shutter speed fast (like 1/1000 or 1/500).

2. Don’t take photos without looking at your camera settings: You might be surprised how often people ask me what they should use as their aperture, shutter speed or ISO setting when taking photos of paintings or other artwork. Unfortunately, having an answer

What are the most common mistakes made when photographing paintings? When I started photographing paintings, I found that I had some of the same problems that I see in other photographers. I didn’t know much about lighting, so my photos were too dark or too light. I didn’t know about depth of field and how to control it, so my photos were out of focus, or showed only a small area of the painting.

So I decided to ask some of my professional photographer friends for their advice on photographing paintings. Here’s what they told me.

1) Light – This is probably the biggest problem with amateur photos of art. If you don’t have enough light, your photo will be too dark; if you have too much light, your photo will be washed out. Also, if there is a lot of glare on the painting, it can make it hard to see details in the painting itself. The best solution is to take your photos outside on a cloudy day – this gives you soft light that won’t wash out your painting and will probably be less harsh than fluorescent lights in a museum or gallery.*

2) Depth of field – Depth of field refers to how much of an image is in focus. To get everything from near to far in focus

It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey…the end result that you are looking for when taking photos of paintings is not the end result but rather the journey. I think so many people get caught up with getting the right photo right away that they forget to enjoy the process.

Trying to take a picture of a famous painting is not only challenging but also very rewarding in my opinion. The process itself can be an amazing experience and allows you to take a step back and appreciate things one may have never even noticed before.

One of the most important considerations when photographing art is managing light. Light is your friend and your enemy. It illuminates, but it can also destroy. When taking photos of art, you want to manage the light so that it works for you and enhances the piece rather than destroying it.

Treat light with respect, and learn to control it. Let’s take a look at some ways that you can do this.**

We see Leonardo da Vinci’s art differently. We can look at his paintings and see the brush strokes, the texture, even the canvas weave. And we can look at his drawings and see the flowing lines, the diagrams, the shapes. But for centuries his work was seen in a very different light.

Even today if you were to go to The Louvre or The Rijksmuseum and stand in front of one of Leonardo’s masterpieces, you would be hard pressed to see it as anything more than a mass of paint. When viewed through a scientific lens, da Vinci’s work is not as beautiful as when viewed through a humanistic lens.

When it comes to viewing art, how do we learn to separate what our eyes are telling us from what our minds are telling us?