New is good. Correct is good. Best is good. That is not necessarily what I’ve put in my galleries of art thus far. Instead, I’ve kept the best photograph I  could make of the art a few sessions before I finished it. So when I began to populate the galleries for my web site, I realized that most of the art needs rephotographed.

It’s been a challenge to get good photos of the art. Large pieces suffered from unequal lighting. Most suffered from insufficient lighting. Nearly all were made on lower resolution cameras with the wrong lens for the job.

So today when I detected full sun bathing my back yard I knew my plans had to be set aside so I could retake some of the pictures.

To prop them up, I used my trampoline, which isn’t going anywhere so it won’t move when I lean canvases on it.

To keep grass out of the bottom of the frame I took boards to put the pictures on.

To eliminate reflection from the wood, I capped it with black towel and carpeting.

To keep pictures from blowing face down on the grass, I brought a clamp and a plank and secured the art so it could’t repeatedly play ‘sail’ and blow away.

The persistent stench of feces led me to the evidence of opossum in the yard, which I capped with a brick. Annoying animal. I should trap and relocate it.

Sunlight is equal. All I had to do was watch out for shadows from trees and keep the amount of sun and it’s angle of coverage correct for each artwork.

If it weren’t for digital camera, raw format, and processing software, I’d have been dead in the water. With those tools, even I can get acceptable results.

One large canvas has eluded photo capture for many years. Today, I removed it from it’s frame. Then I removed staples and stretched the sagging canvas a bit tighter.

Umbrella Girl, photographed in shade during sunny day

With drawings, sometimes it’s nice to show the tooth of the paper surface. Not so much if there are puckers that cause shadow, but otherwise it makes the photo all the more lifelike.

Shot with sun on the art showing the linen like surface of the painting

This local trail has tight detail and photographing with light on the canvas makes it more lively, more real.

Photographed with the sun behind and the canvas in shadow. Smooth like a print.

In full sun the positioning of the art is everything and I find it worth doing some experimentation. What I want to point out here is the difference between photographing the art with sun shining obliquely across it’s face so as to show the surface in addition to the painting or sketchwork and photographing it in full shadow. Full shadow creates a smooth printlike view of the art.

Side light sunshine adds texture. Both have their place.