IB Art Design Exhibition Quick tips for photographing artwork

Photographing your work

In order to photograph your artwork you will need a camera, a location with good lighting and a neutral colored wall for background (black, grey or white). *Opt. you may use a tripod. There are many photography techniques and plenty of photo equipment that can be used however if you don’t have access to special equipment you can easily take good quality photographs by following a few simple steps.

Step 1. Space and Lighting

If you don’t have lighting equipment choose a room with lots of natural light. A large window or slider works well. Make sure there is a wall nearby large enough to hang your artwork. Test different rooms in the house if possible.

Start early in the day in order to avoid a race with the clock. Photos shot at night need lighting equipment.

If you have too much light you can use a white sheet or white curtains over a window to defuse the light. Make sure the light is not directly ‘hitting’ the artwork because indirect light works better. Do NOT drape fabric over lamps!

Photograph one artwork at a time in order to avoid putting too many nails in your wall. If there is already something hung on the wall try using the existing nail instead of making extra holes in your wall. Tacks and pushpins work just fine with most work.

Some artists photograph their artwork outdoors. They choose an overcast day because this provides excellent lighting. If you choose to photograph outdoors please research “best techniques for outdoor photography”.

Step2. Hanging your work

Now that your room is ready it is time to hang your artwork!!

NO FLASH! Do not use flash when photographing your artwork.

You may NOT use a photo editing tool on your camera, computer or any other means to enhance or change the photograph. This is because the examiners want to see your work AS IS!

Hang your artwork for it’s photo shoot! Use a level if handy to make sure your artwork is straight.

Practice shots: Take a few photographs to test camera and lighting. Hold your camera so the lens is level with the middle of the artwork*.

Optional: If you have a tripod, set up your camera and take practice shots. *See examples on slides “Shooting 2-D work”

Step3. Camera Tips

Your lighting is perfect, your artwork is hung and you’ve taken some practice shots, so now what?

If your practice photographs look like a trapezoid or parallelograms then you will need to practice holding the camera level with the middle of the artwork.

Blurry photos? Hold your camera steady and adjust the settings on your camera, focus and take new shots.

Make sure your background is neutral and that you zoom in enough to fill most of the frame.

You MUST also leave space around the artwork. That means your photos must show all edges of your canvas, paper or surface.

https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/4-steps-to-photographing-your-art-like-a-professional

Bad ExamplesDoesn’t meet IB requirements

IB Requirements• Images need to show the

edges of the surface (canvas, paper, etc)

• Do not provide slanted or warped images

• Stay in focus• Images must not exceed

the file size limits AND must not be pixelated

• Use a neutral background and natural lighting

• NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

Shooting 2-D work

Shooting 2-D work

R e v i e w : I B r e q u i r e s a l l p h o t o s b e t a k e n

w i t h t h e e d g e s o f t h e s u r f a c e

s h o w i n g

D O N O T U S E F L A S H

U s e t h e b e s t l i g h t i n g p o s s i b l e

R e m e m b e r t h e s e a r t w o r k s c a n

h e l p e x a m i n e r s u n d e r s t a n d

y o u r o v e r a l l a r t i n v e s t i g a t i o n

O n l y a r t w o r k w i t h r e s e a r c h

a n d p r a c t i c e

s h o u l d b e s u b m i t t e d

C h o o s e 4 - 7 o f y o u r b e s t

a r t w o r k s — t h e y r e p r e s e n t

y o u ! !

Y O U C A N ’ T D I S G U I S E A B A D P H O T O G R A P H

Final Photos

On a flash/usb drive you will turn in...• A folder with your name (Last, First)• The folder will contain digital files of (4-7 photographs) • Correct size and file types as required by IB Guidelines• Each photo/file must be named as follows: # in series,

Title of Work and dimensions in cm.

Example: 1_Garden House_22x24cm OR 2_Self Portrait_36x44cm

I WILL NOT ACCEPT WORK VIA EMAIL*Artwork Information Sheet

bibliography

–https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/4-steps-to-

photographing-your-art-like-a-professional

http://cuart.colorado.edu/resources/vrc/tips/photographing-2d/

http://cuart.colorado.edu/resources/vrc/tips/photographing-3d/