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Thread: 8x10 photos of oil paintings

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2008
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    Pittsburgh PA
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    8x10 photos of oil paintings

    Hi,

    I'm brand new and want to make 8x10 photos of my oil paintings. My introduction message is here:
    http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=35221

    This location, however, will serve to document my entry and experiences, I hope.

    Michael Carter

  2. #2

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Westminster, MD
    Posts
    1,653

    Re: 8x10 photos of oil paintings

    If you can't control your light source for color balance, I'd suggest using 8x10 color negative film. Both Kodak and Fuji make fine 8x10 film.

    You don't need a very sophisticated camera with lots of movement. All you need to do is use a simple field camera and line it up square to your painting.

    How big are you paintings? A basic 300 mm lens on your camera will be fine, unless your paintings are really huge.

    I suggest a set of tungsten temperature copy lights, two on either side at a 45° angle to the painting to wash even light over the painting.

    An incident light meter is the best way to meter since you'll meter the light not the painting.

    Have a professional lab process the film. Then using a scanner, such as the Epson V700, and a plate of anti-newton ring glass overlaid on top of the film to keep the film flat ( http://fpointinc.com/glass.htm ), you can make high quality scans from inkjet output.

    Don't skimp on a good tripod. Nothing worse then a shaky camera.

    That's about it.
    When I grow up, I want to be a photographer.

    http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Photography/index.html

  3. #3
    joseph
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Chapel Hill NC
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    1,401

    Re: 8x10 photos of oil paintings

    Quote Originally Posted by Walter Calahan View Post
    That's about it.
    Good advice there-
    What could possibly go wrong?

    j

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    1,074

    Re: 8x10 photos of oil paintings

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Carter View Post
    Hi,

    I'm brand new and want to make 8x10 photos of my oil paintings. My introduction message is here:
    http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=35221

    This location, however, will serve to document my entry and experiences, I hope.

    Michael Carter

    Hi Michael,

    Leonardo Barreto earns his entire living photographing artwork.

    The key is the lighting, not the camera. (You could even take pictures with a digicam and stitch.)

    An 8x10 sheet of film will be perfect. You caan use tunsten negative film, lowest ISO Kodak will be fine and add gells to the back of the lens to bring the ambient light to neutral ~5000 degrees K. Or else you can use controlled lights. In any case, color negative film, when one respects the curves built in by kodak, will serve you very well. It's not the same to expose the film badly and then correct it in photoshop, not nealry as good. If you are doing this a lot, using your own lights so you have a sim-ple reproducable setup or else being smart enough to correct for the light with gels on the lens will give you peace of mind and a good workflow.

    If you get rich, a used P25 back on a used Mamiya will do just as well if not better.

    Leonardo is one of the nicest guys you can talk to Leonardobarreto.com is his contact url (and his name on http://opfora.com). Mention me and give my regards!

    Get his lighting set up. It's very simple, as I remember and portable too.

    Leonardo also happens to be a very creative and sensitive painter and photographic artist. More than that, he's a gentleman and a good person.

    Good luck,

    Asher

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Pittsburgh PA
    Posts
    73

    Re: 8x10 photos of oil paintings

    Wow,

    I wish it were so easy to get in touch with photographers et all around town! Here that is. Pittsburgh PA.

    Um, My paintings are 52 inches wide and growing. My studio is too small for such sizes and currently I am limited to 25" x 32" left over silk screen paper to use oil bars on.
    I'm looking for like a warehouse floor or a smaller school room to paint in. Currently I'm in the third floor of my house and it is difficult to move big art up the turning stairs.

    Right on about the lighting. Large sized lights are in the works and I've gotten a roll of "Trans-Lum" at Bernie's Photo locally. It'll go over boxes and daylight tubes. Plans were provided for DIY. Shouldn't be too difficult to make.

    Another thing that is really needed is a good easile. One with a crank. The art could be moved on it or by it, photographed in sections and stiched together if the lighting is even enough.

    I have an old chrome and brass heavy duty tripod with a large flat head. It was used to hold an Auricon 16mm optical SOF outfit, but that is gone sold now to make room for fine art. The tripod will be fine for a much lighter 8x10 camera! Those Auricons are heavy. There is another made by Mitchell that is wood but it has pointy feet. It'd be good outside. That head is not so large but about 6 inches in diameter. Mitchells are big heavy movie cameras, too.

    A way to paint flat finished has been devised that should make photography of the art much easier than glossy glazes. Lead based white paint is mixed with modern printers ink pigment primaries, only three tubes are needed for all colors. It all dries flat and never cracks.

    An old landscape painting of Russian Hill in San Francisco was painted upon a lead ground but used normal paints and glazes over it. Lots of cracks occured when a frame shop owner restreached it. Now it looks like an earth quake shattered all the buildings! That works for me. Nevertheless, in diffused low level lighting all the cracks go away and cannot be seen. Long exposures with my Cannon EOS 5D can capture images practically in the dark! It will capture the painting without cracks showing. Color balanced low level lighting that is very soft and diffused may make it possible to do the same thing in much higher resolution with an 8 x 10 film camera.

    This work is a lot of fun. I'm really enjoying doing fine are again. Prints are part of it.

    How could I have huge photo prints made? Would they be more expensive than ink jet prints? Those cost up to $100 each for the size of the drawing paper I use, 25x32, depending on who does it. I'd like to have full sized prints made. One printer has a 42 inch wide machine for ink jet prints on heavy fine art paper that would be very nice and will cost even more I'm sure.

    See Ya,

    Michael Carter

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