Need some help from our resident shutter bugs.
We have a consignment of fine art pieces, African masks, figures, etc. So I need to upgrade to fine art level photography for the website and internet bidding. OK, not $10,000 per piece quality, but still nice pieces.
We normally shoot the smaller collectibles and such in a photo box, your basic diffuser. We've always needed better lighting so now's a good time but the diffuser works OK for most of what we shoot. These pieces we're shooting on a black background which is really sharp on these more natural pieces.
The problem is the glare on pieces that have a shine to them. Totally messes up the color of course, all you get is a picture of light reflecting so you loose the wood/dark tones.
I'm assuming this is a function of lighting. The camera we use scans barcodes to keep images organized so changing camera is the absolutely last thing I want to do. I can change everything else. The picture quality is plenty good for internet viewing even zoomed, but I'm losing the tones as the glare creates lighting hot spots that change the color tones or just show reflected light.
So what's the best setup for shooting this kind of art? Specifically I'm wondering
-- Fluorescent, Halogen, what kind of lights
-- Distance of diffuser from subject. the box we use is maybe 3x3 for art that's maybe 6"x12" high.
-- distance of lights to diffuser.
-- Camera settings I can tweak.
-- anything else anyone can suggest.
I have no expectation of doing true professional level work here. This is about the buyer knowing what they're buying, which in the case of art of course means knowing the coloration.
In this image you can see the problem. The lips on the mask are in fact blue, the face white, but the forehead is the same dark brown/black you see along the bottom edge of the mask. it turns out this washed out bluish tone.
Thanks guys. I'm grateful for any insight from our photo braintrust.
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