Photographing an oil painting

[Gerry Harrison]

All,

I have been asked to photograph a medium plus size oil painting...I will be using a Hasselblad for this, nevertheless the technique learned will apply to all formats. I have a quartz halogen flood lamp with white umbrella and combination 30 inch reflector/diffuser for lighting equipment. I need technique ideas and color film type for this kind of lighting. Any suggestions or ideas would be of great help.

Thanks Gerry

[Daniel_Buck]

Sorry this does not answer your question about film type, but I did some photographing of flat paintings and other flat surfaces a few months ago at work. One thing we found very helpful was a set of polarizer sheets. We used 3 polarizers, one on the camera (that one was screw mounted to the lens), and one in front of both light sources in an otherwise completely dark room.

We set the lights even distance apart from the painting left to right (180 degrees apart from each other), and at 45 degrees off the flat surface. If that doesn't make sense, let me know and I can whip up a quick diagram. Rotate the polarizers to cancel out all the highlights, and you are left with a very nice flat diffuse surface with virtually no shine/reflection. Unless you have a huge polarizer for the lights, you'll need to use small light sources.

This worked very well, if you have some time before the shoot, I would suggest you at least give this technique a look if you are looking to get rid of the shine from the paint.

[David Karp]

I am no expert on this, but I do know that this has come up numerous times on this forum, so a quick search should get you lots of tips. Some of them are by people who regularly photograph artwork for a living.

[Greg Lockrey]

I second Daniel's suggestion with using cross polarized lighting. I'd stay away from using umbrella since you really don't need any scattered light. If the artist wants to show the texture of his oils, then the position and the amount of cross polarization will affect that too. I personally like to get all glare out. They really don't make good copy film anymore but if you are leaning toward transparency, Ektrachrome Tungsten 160 works pretty good. I personally use digital in my copy work. FWIW I use a pair of Lowel Tota 750 watts per side spaced about 12" apart aimed at about a 45 degree angle to the work. Make sure the polarizers on the lamps are parrallel to each other and the one on the lens crosses the axis. I made 19x36" frames to hold my polarizer sheet. You can get 19"x10' rolls at B&H for about $200 if memory serves. Be careful to the type (cost) of the polariod sheets. Some brands are better than others. Cheap brands have always disappointed. Rosco seems to be the best for this size. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...0_Filter_.html You will be shooting at f/11 for about a 1/4 second with the above set up.

OR: you can take outside on an overcast day and use daylight film.

[jetcode]

I saw a rig designed for photographing art and it was a metal frame mounted over a level table. The art lay flat on the table and the camera was suspended above on a plate that provided motion in 3 axis. It was precise.

[Walter Calahan]

Back to the film (you probably don't need the umbrellas, simply 45 degree lighting with some diffusion on the lights is the best solution), you want a neutral film, something that won't exaggerate the colors and change to colors from the original.

The best solution is to put a color chart into the scene and shoot color negative film. Then the printer can print to match the color chart. If you use color transparency film, use Kodak EPN. Kodak engineered this film to be a faithful to the existing colors as possible. I'd still use a color chart in the frame with this film. Why? If you end up scanning or printing the transparency, you can use the chart of balance the colors.

I've also had good results taking the art work outdoors, and if it is not an overcast day, using north light. You can also use north light indoors if you have large enough windows.

The key is to light in a way that captures the texture of the oil painting without introducing specular highlights.

[Greg Lockrey]

I made one similar out my Beseler 4x5 enlarger stand, but I could only get to 30x40" effectively. I made this little gizmo out of a piece of 1 1/2 pvc pipe 3" long with a mirror at one end whereby I center this on the art work and when I can see my lens in the mirror, I know that I am absolutly centered to the work no matter how large it is. I borrowed the idea from this website: http://www.hineslab.com/BullsEyeCamCntr.html . This man is quite the innovator of photographic equipement.

[Stan. L-B]

Keep it simple. Although I have the use of a studio with all the requsite lighting, I have found that around 45deg. daylight, filtered through even cloud, with a large white beaded reflector opposite the light source to be the most reliable.
I normally use reversal film but negative is just as reliable. I take an incident and reflective reading using the mean from both. I have never found it necessay to take more than one exposure using this method.
Make sure the subject is square on to the film plane.

[CG]

It sounds like you have just one lamp? If so, back it waaaay off from the painting to get the light as even as possible. A longer exposure is better than an uneven exposure. Then put a big refector on the far side of the painting to help out.

If your lamp is 3200 K color temperature, and you want to go with your lamp, use EPY for a transparency film. Kodak Portra 100T is a 3200 K color neg film.

For simplicity, the daylight suggestions and a daylight balanced film may make sense for someone with a single light. There are lots of film choices for daylight.

If you keep your lighting a little flatter than the usual suggestion of 45 degrees off the subject plane, you minimize the likelihood of obnoxious reflections. Regardless, a polarizer on camera makes saturated color more likely.

C

[phototech]

Greetings all,

I just discovered the LF Forum and was thrilled to find it. I work for a US Cultural Heritage Institution and in the past year put my view camera on a shelf for now. We recently went digital and have been using the Hasselblad CF39 on a Hasselblad H2. Great system for shooting the collection. But that aside, I wanted to chime in on your oil painting challenge.
In the Museum world, we use 2 light sources angled at 45 degrees (avg. this can change due to the relief of the surface) and try to get away with no polarization. We do have to resort to polarization often however with many of the dark oil paintings with heavy varnish. Specular highlights are the enemy and cross polarization is just about your only solution. If you are shooting film, I would include a Greytag McBeth Colorchecker, or some other color reference, so when the film is ultimately scanned, one has a target to match.
When we did shoot film, I prefered Kodak EPP or Fuji Provia transparency films for oil paintings. If you are using your tung light, go with Fuji RTP 64T, very fine grain. Film is not ideal, as Museums typically have no input into the manufacturing of these films, as other markets do. The film dyes are manufactured with input from the commerical marketplace, i.e. pretty cars, pretty jewels, and pretty people. So...I would 2nd the case for including the Macbeth ColorChecker.
If you have only one light, distance will be your friend. Dont use the umbrellas or diffusers, as they only create a larger light source/reflection.
You just have to experiment. I think out of the 1000+ oil paintings I have shot in the past year, they all exhibited different qualities. If you cant invest in the $60 color checker, the $100+ in polarizing materials (gel/filters for lights and camera filter), try taking the painting outside and using natural light (daylight balanced film). Good luck!