Lighting/ Help

[newme]

Hi, Im needing help with lighting (very new with this). What effect does direct (bolb) light shinning on a framed picture have on a photo.

[ricktas]

If you are trying to take a photo of another photo, that is framed and behind glass, using flash or lights will result in that light reflecting off the glass and being visible in the resultant shot. If possible removing the older photo from the frame and scanning it is the best solution rather than trying to photograph it.

Be aware that even though you take a photo of a photo, copyright remains with the person who took the original, under most circumstances. So don't go posting any resultant photo onto forums etc, without verifying that you are not breaching copyright

[newme]

Thank u for the reply..
Its not a photo of another photo, the question is for part of my first assignment.. It asks me how i would photogragh framed paintings in a gallery to use in a catalogue, its a bit hard when you dont really understand the full affect of lighting. So rather than ask how to answer the question :-) Id like to understand how the light would affect the painting through the camrea and lens.

[ricktas]

Ah, ok. Your initial post was not that informative, but my reply still applies, partially. If a painting is under glass you will have issues with reflections. Do you know what filter to use to at least reduce the incidence of the reflections?

Most galleries have good lighting as they want to show their Art off to it's best. You would need to assess each piece individually and get the best angle for each one. This could vary depending on, if it is under glass or not.

I make some assumptions here, but many galleries will not allow flash photography, so you will need to make do with the light they 'supply'. There is no one perfect answer to your question, rather each individual piece would need to be assessed to get the best angle and result.

However, if you do have free use of lights, lights at 45 degree angles shining in on the subject with you directly in front usually produce good results.

[newme]

Mmm yes the question doesnt say where or not the pieces are under glass or not and it hasnt ruled out the use of flash gear. Im gathering its just a base to see if i got some understanding of lenses, lighting etc.. I was thinging that i would use a 50mm lens as my understanding it will get the most normal view of what you are photograghing and has a large aperture ( which i still need to get more of a grasp of ).. I would use a polariser filter to eliminate any reflections from direct lighting on the painting. A tripod for a clear picture and transportable flash gear, Thank you very much for letting me know about the degree of angle. Its a bit hard to grasp when you dont have all the equitment to have a mess around and try out different things with, But its something ill have to work on :-)

[Boo53]

Most (high end) framed artwork should have low reflectivity glass (in answering the assignment state that and also state that you assume that is the case here). Having said that it will still reflect flash so it would be preferable to use the lighting the gallery has set up. If you have to use flash it will have to be off camera, but I leave that to someone who knows how to do it

[Bennymiata]

Another important consideration is exactly where you are in relation to the picture.

If your camera is situated above or below the exact centrepoint of the picture, you can end up with distortion of the picture, so try and set your tripod up so that the lens is directly aiming at the centrepoint of the picture.
Forthis sort of work, a good macro lens is a big help, as these have a very flat field of focus and will help in lkeeping the whole picture in perfect focus.
Of course, a tilt-shift lens canalso help here as you can adjust it to keep the whole picture in focus.
You may find that instead of tryingot get the picture to fill the entire sensor of your camera, it is better to leave a bit of a margin around it, so you have a bit of room to cropit perfectly and it will also give you a little room to fix any perpective changes.

If it does have glass on the picture, using a softbox on your flash will also reduce reflections and also help to eliminate any hot spots.

Good luck with your assignement.