Carolyn A Pappas

I have a lot going on in my life right now, but I am pleased that I had a chance to take some art classes this year. I’ve already told you about the acrylic painting class that I’m taking, but I also signed up for a couple of Saturday workshops. Last week I took a workshop on photographing artwork. I wanted to learn to take my own photographs because it can get very expensive to hire someone to take the photos and I don’t want any bad photos of my artwork showing up online or elsewhere. I often see artists blogs where the images are so bad (crooked, glare, blurry, etc) that I am a little embarrassed for them. The class was a great experience, and the instructor was really mellow and easily approachable. Here is some of what I learned:

Photography Basics.  

I have taken some photography classes in the past, as well as a physics course that dealt with photography almost exclusively, but it has been years since I’ve thought of F stop or shutter speed. This was more of a refresher for me, but the concepts really “clicked” in my brain. This part of the class actually helped boost my confidence because none of it was confusing to me.

How to use my camera.  

I don’t have the nicest camera, but it has served me well thus far for taking reference photos and snapshots. My camera does have manual settings, but I never knew how to use them, or even tried. I learned how to manually adjust the white balance, which makes such a huge difference. I also learned how to use the timer, which was something that I could never figure out on my camera. I was surprised how the instructor seemed so familiar where things would be even after the first time picking up my camera.

Equipment and Setup.

The instructor did a great job of breaking down what would be necessary for my basic needs, and what would be nice to have. I learned a lot about lights and bulbs, tripods, light meters, and what features to look for in my next camera purchase. In my current arrangement I don’t really have the space for a decent setup, but I took a lot of notes on how I would actually go about photographing my artwork in the future. For now I like using a scanner for the small pieces that I’ve been doing, but I would like to start working bigger and this info will definitely come in handy.

A note on the image: This small watercolor (5 x 7) is another iteration of my previous painting of the Deerfield River as seen in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. I made on a blank greeting card so someone I know will be getting it in the mail.