The “photo session” is an unmissable moment to take photos of the new artworks.
Essential to be able to publish them on the net, on online art sales platforms, or in my (future) online shop. In order not to be hindered by natural light backlighting, we wait until nightfall to start working.
The lighting used consists of two ramps of LEDs (which can be seen in the photos) with white light (6500 K, 4400 Lumen).
A ramp is at the top, above the easel and another is placed at the bottom, at the foot of the easel. The ramps are perpendicular to the surface of the canvases. Each ramp is 11.8″X47.2″, a correct length to light my larger formats which do not exceed 59″X39.3″ (for the moment 😉 )
During the photo sessions, I am an “assistant” because I am not a photographer myself.
My role is to correctly place the canvases on the easel, upright, so that the light illuminates them at a certain angle and thus avoid reflections. Then, once the photo is taken, I remove the canvas, put it aside to install a new one, and so on. It’s a delicate handling job 😉
The photographer uses a colour chart and a grey chart X-Rite Colorchecker. This will then be used to create a colour profile in the image processing software Lightroom. Because the work on the photos then continues on the computer: correcting chromatic and lens aberrations, straightening, cropping, processing… a work that takes even longer than the shots themselves, but which is essential to give my buyers images that are as faithful to reality as possible. The camera is Canon 5D Mark IV put on tripod.
The shooting session lasted about 1h20, for 10 medium formats and 2 large vertical formats (51″X35.4″ and 59″X39.3″), more cumbersome to handle.
These 2 large canvases were first photographed horizontally, on the easel, to have them “full frame” and take advantage of all the pixels of the camera. Then, all the canvases were photographed normally placed on the easel, in their reading direction, to make “studio” views, and photos of the edges of the artworks.
Then, I will take the canvases apart and keep them rolled, to save space. The stretcher rods will be stored vertically, in cardboard boxes which are used to transport … the canvas rolls. This is a way of storing that saves a lot of space. Because my workshop is as big as a pocket handkerchief 😉
Last detail: the ramp in the middle is removable. We place it at the foot of the easel for shooting. Once the photo session is over, this ramp is placed back on the ceiling, fixed with pins. The ramps serve as powerful “daylight” lighting, almost without shadows, indispensable for painting in all weathers, day and night.
