Photographing your art

Several people had asked me about what tips I would give for photographing cards and other projects, so here are some of the things I keep in mind.
1. Lighting is one of the most important aspects to photography in general. Outdoor lighting is superior and when using it, your project should be in bright light, facing the light source. The flat surface you set your project should be white or very light in color. The lighter the color, the more the light will reflect off it and up onto your project, creating a sort of second light source, therefore enhancing the appearance. Indoor lighting is typically not very good for photography. But, if you shell out the moolah for those super-white fluorescent daylight bulbs, you'll be all set. Whether you have typical light bulbs or the expensive ones, have 2 light sources. If one of them is your center-of-the-room light bulb, then purchase a cheap clip-on, bendable light, and clip it to your shelf and point it at your project from the side. But, the better option would be to purchase 2 of those clip-on lights and put them on either side of the project.

2. Presentation and the placing of your project is next. For outdoor photographs, place your object on a plain, light colored base, like a wooden bench, a white fence ledge, or clean concrete. Make sure that when you look at your project, you don't see too much behind it in the way of toys or machinery scattered in the yard. A nice green lawn or white fence or brick wall might be best for this. Take the photo at a slight angle, with the front of your project facing the light source. For indoor picture taking of your projects, set up a small area on a shelf or the top of a dresser close to your light source, and keep it always ready for photographing, if possible, with the exception of changing out your background fabric or cardstock. Your background should be plain with not much going on behind it. Choosing simple white or black backgrounds is best, using white background for a dark project and black background for a light colored project. Light neutral background colors are usually acceptable. Right now I use black or white cardstock placed underneath and behind the project. I tape it in place if I have to. Personally, I soon will be getting some $1 fabric from a local super center for my backgrounds.

3. Use the close-up or macro feature on your camera. This gives you the best detail. The only thing I can tell you for certain on this tip is to use the tri-pod or another source to keep your camera completely still while you click the picture. Macro features don't like the slightest movement and will make a nice fuzzy photo, even if you didn't think you moved the camera.

4. Use the best or second best quality option on the camera. This helps preserve crisp lines in the end result photo. You can always crop and resize the photo later in your photo editing program to make the digital photo a manageable size.

5. When editing and cropping your photos, use the automatic color enhancement feature. Most programs have it, however, I don't know how they all work. My program needs an area on the photograph that is supposed to be pure white, and it requires me to click on that white area, and then it adjusts the remaining colors based on the white area needing to be pure white. If my project isn't using any white cardstock, or doesn't have any white cardstock that is left plain white (not colored or sponged over), I will place a small piece of white cardstock about an inch away from my project when taking the picture. Then, when editing, I can use that small piece to auto adjust the colors and just crop it out.

It's amazing what the auto enhance feature can do for your photographs. Here is an example of my card before and after I enhanced the photo.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you and that I have described them clearly.

Supplies for this sample:

• Whisper white and bashful blue CS
• Basic black, Bashful blue, sahara sand, blush blossom inkpads and an aquapainter
• Swiss dots Cuttlebug folder
• Silver brads
• Pop-up dots (SU Dimensionals)
• Sponge for applying ink the the edges of the white CS
• Light blue May arts double sided satin
• Stamps: Charlie Horse by Clear Dollar Stamps
  

Many wonderful stamping wishes! ~Laurie