March 30, 2007,Taking pictures of pictures, By Robert de Gast

“There are as many lousy painters in San Miguel as there are on the Left Bank of Paris,” an acquaintance insisted recently. Well, maybe, but you’re not one of them! And of course you should photograph your fabulous paintings before you sell them. A photograph could persuade a potential buyer or it might be necessary for a juried show.

In any case, how to proceed? I’m assuming that you have a digital camera, and that you’ll send the result via email. So here’s what we’ll do:

To begin with, most point-and-shoot digital cameras have two viewfinders: an optical viewfinder (that’s the one you peek through while pressing the camera to your brow) and the monitor, the LCD (liquid crystal display) screen on the back of the camera you hold out in front of you while squinting at it, the image difficult to see in bright sunlight. The LCD screen shows exactly what you’ll copy, while the optical viewfinder shows only about 80 percent of the picture. In addition, and this is important, if less than about three feet from the thing to be copied, the optical viewfinder will only show a portion of the image, something called parallax a Greek word meaning “to change.” So, the only reasonable way to start the process is to use the LCD screen on your digital camera (or use a SLR, a single-lens-reflex camera, which also shows exactly what you’re about to copy).

If we’re going to do it right we’ll also need a tripod. The most common reason for ending up with unsharp pictures is camera shake. Having the camera on a tripod also makes it easier to compose and frame the painting and perhaps make several slightly different exposures of the same image. If the picture to be copied is small—say, no more than 11x14 inches—a copy stand would come in handy.

The background of the painting or drawing should be plain, with no texture or pattern: a blank wall, a white sheet, a black poster board. You want to fill the frame, yet leave a simple, white or black border so that nothing competes with your artwork.

What is most important, however, is that the camera and the painting are in the same plane: that the camera is just as vertical or horizontal as the painting. In other words, if you were to draw a direct line from the center of the lens it should end up in the exact center of the painting. This will eliminate perspective distortion: all the lines will be straight and at right angles.

So now we’ve framed the picture. How’s the light? Is it even? Are there shadows? Professionals use artificial lights but that may not be feasible for you. Experiment with direct sunlight or move the picture to a place that has open shade, usually a better choice. Needless to say, glass should be removed before taking the picture. Watch for glare, especially with oil paintings.

What about the technical, photographic part? Use the “Fine” setting, the highest quality, even though you may send the photo using email. Set the White Balance (WB) to Auto, or experiment with the Sun or Shade settings, as appropriate. Of course, turn off the flash. And here’s another trick to help you make sharp copies: with the camera on a tripod, use the self-timer to make the exposure. By the time the ten- or two-second delay is up, any shaking you may have caused when you depressed the shutter will have dissipated.

When emailing photographs, make the pictures smaller for the recipient. A free program from Google, called Picasa ( www.picasa.com ), makes that very easy.

Copying your paintings is satisfying. After all, what you’re photographing is already so beautiful! Honor that beauty. Take your time. Check the result. If you’re not happy, do it again. You’ve paid for the camera (I assume) and now taking pictures is free! Ain’t digital photography grand?

Robert de Gast, a 12-year resident of San Miguel, is the author of nine books, including, most recently, Behind the Doors of San Miguel. He leads photographic safaris around San Miguel and offers hourly tutorials. He can be reached at 152-7396 or via e-mail: robertdegast@hotmail.com.