Guide to Photographing Artwork for Online Submission

by Site Admin

What you need:

• the piece of work you are submitting
  • unframed for photography
• camera (or phone with a high quality camera)
• clean, flat surface eg. table or floor
• bright daylight – but not bright sunshine

 

1. Lay your work on a clean, flat surface. If your work is large, it may be easier to mount it on the wall. Bright daylight and no artificial light is best. On an overcast day it may be better to photograph your work outside. Do not use camera flash.
2. Stand over your work without casting a shadow and hold your camera above. When focussing, make sure your work is centred and that the corners all appear as right angles on the camera screen/through the lens so that your picture is accurate and not distorted.
3. Take several images carefully, making sure to refocus each time.
4. If your image has irregular edges that you wish to include, you can photograph it against a neutral background eg. a plain white piece of paper.
5. To photograph 3D work, use a large sheet of white paper as a background. Take several photographs from every angle and turn your item so that no part of it is hidden by shadow.
6. Edit your images only by cropping the edges. Do not adjust anything else.
7. To submit your images to an online submission system, you may need to resize them. Follow the specifications stated upon submission.
8. Save your image with any required information in the title eg. your name, the year and the title of your work.

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