How to Shoot Your Works of Art

Let me preface this lightning set of tips by saying two things: (1) I love it when you send me pictures of your treasures, and (2) I am not a professional photographer. If you want oodles of tips from a pro, you really should visit the About.com Photography site. (Liz Masoner, the Photography Guide, has got that whole "learn by enjoyment" business down to a science, and it's a good time all around for anyone wishing to learn new skills.)

And now for the Big Buts you knew were coming:

(1) I love it when you send me pictures of your treasures that I can see. When there's a honking flash glare in the upper right-hand corner of a painting that is two-degrees out of square, is leaning backwards against a wall *and* has been shot from some angle that even Einstein couldn't formulate, my viewing experience ... how should I say this? It's not good. Actually, it's bad. Really bad. As in: if you sent this same shot to your insurance agent, s/he'd write a homeowner's policy rider valued at about $5. Tops.

(2) I'm still not a professional photographer; that hasn't changed. However, back around the time that Man discovered fire, I became quite competent at shooting those portfolio slides that art students were required to shoot. "Competent" here means that I was too broke to pay a pro, had no additional equipment such as tripods or release cables, and absolutely, positively could not afford to waste even a single exposure, so picked up a bunch of tricks. Tricks I am sharing with you here in the basic primer Quick Tips on Photographing Your Works of Art. Why? Because I love it when you send me pictures of your treasures, but ...

Image credit:

Shelley Esaak (American, b. 20th Century. To humans.)
Shoe, 1981
Graphite on heavy paper
13 x 16 1/4 in.
(Top view: flash on. Bottom view: flash off.)
© Shelley Esaak; licensed to About.com