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Through photography, artists can now easily upload photos of their artwork to share with the world, market their craft to their audience, and sell prints and other art items. While clicking the shutter to take pictures seems enough, there is an art to taking pictures of your artwork like a professional.

Here are six beginner-friendly tips for you to photograph your artwork for your social media and art store.

Light Your Work Properly

Take photos of your artwork with natural light. Place your artwork on a flat surface or mount it on an easel close to a window where you can get the right amount of sunlight. Natural light isn’t harsh and doesn’t subdue the colors of your art. You want your pictures to be similar to the original artwork in real life. If you need to photograph at sundown or night, use ring lights as an alternative. Couple your lighting with reflectors to evenly distribute the light on your subject. 

Stabilize Your Shots

Avoid blurry shots by stabilizing your camera or phone with a tripod. A tripod is ideal for taking vertical shots of your artwork. It is also adjustable to be parallel with paintings mounted at an angle.

If you don’t have a tripod, use a stack of books or boxes as a makeshift tripod to stabilize your shots. Your photos should look crisp and still when you want to upload it to your social media, website, and shop.

Use Your Surroundings as Background

Make use of your surroundings to capture beautiful and stunning photos of your art. Lay your artwork on a flat surface like your floor and add a few items, like accessories, potted plants, drinks, food, gadgets, and different textures of fabrics. 

Outdoor surroundings are also excellent backgrounds for your photos. Mount your artwork on an easel or hold it in front of your camera to capture your artwork with its background. A greenery line, skyline, and buildings like Amaia Skies Shaw are perfect backdrops for your artwork as they add a contemporary statement to your picture. Focus your lens on your art so viewers will look at your piece before the background.

Utilize the Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds is one of the most crucial steps in photography. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, the rule of thirds makes photos look more inviting and well-balanced. As quoted in an article by Digital Photography School, studies reveal that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points more naturally than the center of the shot when looking at photos.

Turn on the “Grid” setting of your camera and set your artwork on the points where the lines intersect. The rule of thirds works well on flat-lay photography and when using your surroundings as your backdrop.

Adjust Your Camera Settings

Your photos will come out better when you use the right settings. When taking pictures of an artwork mounted on your wall, check if your camera lens is parallel to the middle of the painting. Do this when you want to make replicas or prints of your art to sell.

If you want your photos to look crisp, clear, and bright, adjust your ISO and aperture settings. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive it is to light, resulting in grainy photos. Most studio shots use an ISO of 100, which is ideal for achieving precise and crisp images.

After adjusting the settings, set your timer to at least five to ten seconds before pressing the shutter for more stabilized shots. You don’t want your camera to shake after clicking the shutter.

Edit Your Photos

After taking photos, edit it for your social media feed, website, and shop. Color correct your shots since they may not look as accurate as the artwork. 

Adjust the temperature and tints as well. You want your whites to be white, and blacks to be black. Next, crop your photos to create clean, straight lines that frame your artwork. Crop out the edges to prep the image for prints and other merchandise. Resize the photos if necessary. Create various sizes of your images to cater to different merchandise and print sizes.

Photographing your artwork may take patience and time to achieve gallery-worthy shots. Start with these six steps and work your way to capturing professional photos of your artwork that art lovers and collectors alike will love.