Resources
Art Maui Design will be adding to this list of resources in a number of topics to assist artists and their work.
Photography
Getting good photos of your artwork is essential! It shows people interested in your work, the exact colors, shapes, textures and all that you put into it. Online galleries will require the highest quality and high resolution to be able to sell exact, full-sized reproductions of your work. You want the best of your work out there! It's also important to have an accurate image for your portfolio, archive and marketing.
How To
Photography
This is a simple guide on how to take the best photos with your digital camera or camera phone. Without studio lighting.
The best light source is the clear, mid-day Sun. The color temperature is around 5,550 K. The standard output for color reproduction. Near sunset or sunrise the light is to warm and orange.
Photograph your artwork in the shade. Ideally with light all around. Use the appropriate white balance for digital cameras. I tried to take a bad photo for illustrative purposes.
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It was shot near sunrise. It has warmth from the yellow light.
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To close to the light source. The top part is slightly brighter and warmer. The camera metered and pick up the bright yellow light from the top of the scene. Get a consistent lighting. Don't get to dark either.
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The image is convex, slightly bowing outwards. You can tell on the straight edges. This is due to the focal length and magnification of the lens. You want the largest image possible, it can corrected by trying different magnifications and moving closer and or further away.
Other things to consider. If the surface is glossy, you'll have to play with the directions you're shooting and or the angle of placement of the art.
How To
Edit the Photo
Now that you have a useable photo. Time to edit. Images were shot with an iPhone.
If you have Photoshop, you can do all kinds of things. Don't over edit, especially if your monitor is not calibrated for color correction. If you used the right setting, most of the times all you need to do is adjust the brightness, maybe the warmth and saturation. If you do make lots of edits, it's essential to look at your artwork in the same lighting conditions. Meaning, don't edit in a dark room with a table lamp.
If you're using a camera phone, the same applies. Most have built in editing software. The apps tend to over saturate, which has more pop. I like getting as close to the original. But a little color and sharpness can be nice. Use sparingly.
There are also tools for rotating, squaring and cropping the photos.
