Guerrilla Photography of your Art!

We will be sharing artist tips and worksheets with you here. Want to share one of your own? Send us an email!

Natural Light is the way to go. This is a tip list for DIYers! Leave your perfectionism at the door. Your phone is a powerful tool. Read the tips below:

Guerrilla Photography of your Art!    

Natural Light is the way to go.

This a tip list is for DIYers! 

Leave your perfectionism at the door. 

Your phone is a powerful tool. 

Taking pics of your work allows you to enter your work into online exhibitions, share on social media and also creates your electronic portfolio.

First off know your phone camera - explore any settings it has: How to turn off the flash, and a file size setting: Usually it is default setting of high resolution – check to make sure. You want the Best or Highest quality. Often that means a HUGE print size – if you are going to email the photo send it in that original size. If it is going to be on a website the people handling your image will adjust it to a proper digital resolution and they will make sure to maintain the high quality of the image.

OK, take pictures:

Experiment with different outdoor and indoor locations and times of day. Shooting outdoors helps prevent images from taking on a yellow or blue tint, which can happen with fluorescent lighting, and it provides much more even lighting.

Outside:

Find a lightly shaded area where is the sun is just out of reach. I have discovered that porches in Bisbee make a great spot to photograph art with a cellphone. So, if you have a porch try out there! You don’t want to photograph your piece directly under the sun because it will result in overexposure.

Inside:

Find a place in your home/studio that gets the most natural light. Take pictures in this spot throughout the day to see what is best. Take note of the time that lets in the best light. 

Positioning  

3D - Don’t set up your piece with anything beside it, behind it, etc. Make a spot for photographing your work that is not cluttered.  If there is a wall or a surface in or outside of your house that compliments your work exploit it! Take it from a number of angles if needed. 3d work may need multiple shots in order to share the work electronically.

2D - Experiment with both straight on if hanging on a wall or propped. Also try from above, standing on a stool or ladder. Editing your photo - If you are not using a computer at any point in this process, use the simple editing tool in your photo app for cropping.