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18 Tips For Photographing Your Work Outdoors
by Steve Meltzer |
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All across the nation, the summer sun is shining down bright and hard. The temptation, of course, is to photograph your craftwork outside. If you give in to this temptation, use some photographic good sense.
Fiber can be photographed outdoors fairly easily with very good results. Therefore I'll use fiber as the model in explaining how to best use outdoor (natural) light for photographing your work.
Always use a background paper. Too often, people simply take their artwork outside, place it on the driveway and take a photo. Always use a background to eliminate distractions, like your garage door or uncut grass. Preferably, use a large paper background or piece of poster board. Avoid old sheets, burlap bags and the ever-popular old drapes.
Use a background paper that is at least twice as large as the subject. You need some space around the subject so that you can work more easily, and so the edges (and the garage door behind your background) won't be showing in the photo.
It is best to work against a north-facing wall; if that's not available, use a side that faces south. North light is best, as the sun's intensity and glare is softened as it bounces off the blue sky. Remember that eastern walls are shadowed in the afternoon while western walls are shadowed in the morning. Working in the shadow of a building means that your pictures will all be tinted sky blue, because that's the only light that reaches into shadows.
Use a white or light gray background with darker materials so that work will appear to "float" in the frame.
Use a black or dark-toned background only with very light-colored work.
Overcast days or lightly hazy days are better than clear and sunny days. It is better to shoot outdoors when there is a light haze or when it is overcast, or on a day with a few puffy clouds that float in front of the sun for awhile. The light is softer in this kind of weather.
Use an 81A filter to warm things up. The light of a summer day can be a bit on the "cold" side. Sunlight bouncing off of intense blue sky picks up a lot of blue. With most color slide films, a filter that is slightly yellow -- designated an 81A -- removes excess blue from the photos and restores more natural colors.
Use a 100mm or 135mm lens or zoom lens at the longest telephoto setting. I prefer to shoot jury slides with a lens of this focal length. If you have a point-and-shoot with a zoom lens, or a SLR (single-lens reflex) camera with a zoom lens, use it at its maximum extension.
Use 100 ASA slide film. For jury slides, use a film like Fuji Sensia 100 or Kodak Ektachrome 100. Nice colors. Fine grain.
If you are shooting color negative film, remember to halve the film speed for best color saturation and contrast. This is an old trick that improves the color prints you will get. If you use a 200 speed film, set your camera's meter to 100. Check your camera manual for the exact procedure. Generally, it is pretty simple.
Use a tripod. Although there's a lot of light on a sunny day, a tripod still comes in handy. For the best sharpness, you need to set your camera lens aperture to f/11 or, even better, f/16. At these apertures, you may find that your shutter speed needs to be at 1/60th second or slower. A tripod will ensure that your photos are sharp.
Use a reflector. Particularly in direct sunlight, a white reflector of some sort will throw some light into shadowed areas. The reflector can simply be a large white board or a piece of foam core.
If you have a point-and-shoot or SLR camera with a built-in flash, try the "fill" setting to soften shadows. On sunny days, the light is harsh, and shadows are dark and deep. Many point-and-shoots or SLR auto-cameras have a "fill-flash" setting that fires the flash with just enough light to soften shadows.
On a sunny day, don't shoot within at least an hour before or after noon. In a previous column, I explained about how surface texture is controlled by the direction of light. Around noon, the light is coming from directly overhead, which is very harsh.
Plan to shoot for no more than an hour at a time so that all photos are lit similarly. Consistency is important for jury slides. Jurors respond badly (whether consciously or unconsciously) to grossly different lighting and backgrounds in slides. Take into account that because the sun is constantly changing positions in the sky, the angle of the light is changing, and thus the look of the texture and surface of your work is changing. Do not shoot some pieces at 10 a.m., then a few more at 1 p.m., and a couple more at 5 p.m.
Some fiber, like scarves and wraps, can be shot either on a model or laid out flat. To determine which way to go, ask yourself if it is the design or the material that is the most important element of the work. If it's the design, it is best to use a model. But, if it is the weaving and material, you may do better just working flat and close up.
If you use a model, remember that his/her face is not important; don't show it unless you have to.
Long scarves should always be folded or wrapped so that you can get close to them. This is pretty self-explanatory. A 7-foot by 1-foot scarf will look like a long, thin colored line in a slide. To a juror it will look like a fuzzy snake.
A final thought about shooting outdoors: Just because the sun is shining, remember to keep things simple. Don't run into the woods with a model thinking that you will create some exciting fashion shots. As always, the focus should be on your work, not on the setting around it.
Steve Meltzer, The Crafts Report's photography columnist, is a Sarasota, Fla.-based photographer. He can be reached at: stevefoto@compuserve.com.