Digitize an Exhibition

Om ni vill ställa ut barns bilder i vårt digitala galleri kommer här några användbara tips.

Photographing Drawings and Paintings

Here are some simple tips on how to take good photos of children’s art. You probably use a mobile camera, and with the right technique, the results can be really good. However, there are pitfalls!

Think about creating the best possible picture when you take the photo. Some things can be fixed later, but it requires extra work and the result is rarely as good.

Don’t think, “I can improve the pictures later.” If you think like that, you will only create more work for yourself. Unfortunately, a poorly taken picture cannot be saved afterwards.

 

Choose a Good Place to Photograph

Avoid photographing drawings and paintings when they are lying on a table or on the floor. This is because you risk casting a shadow on the artwork yourself. Additionally, it is difficult to hold the camera directly above to get a good angle.

 

The picture is on the floor, but the photographer creates a shadow on the image.

 

The artwork is on a table and gets an unwanted perspective.

 

Instead, do this: Attach the drawing or painting to a wall surface with even and neutral lighting.

 

Find a wall surface where you can put up the artwork.

 

Warm and Cool Light

Different types of light sources affect the colour tone in photos. We usually don’t think about it, but it makes a big difference in the pictures. If you can, try photographing in different rooms and choose the place that gives the most neutral light.

 

The room’s light gives a too warm tone to this photograph.

 

This picture has a cooler tone.

 

Framed Pictures

It is easy to get light reflections and glare when photographing framed pictures. Therefore, it is best to photograph them before they are framed.

 

The ceiling light creates an unwanted reflection in the frame’s glass. Additionally, the photographer’s reflection is visible!

 

The same artwork, but taken out of the frame and scanned.

 

Sharpness

It is important that the pictures are as sharp as possible. Sometimes we are careless and don’t check if the sharpness is good. Therefore, it is good to look directly at the picture in the camera’s display and zoom in as much as possible. This way, you can see if the picture is sharp.

 

Think about holding the camera steady when photographing. Hold the camera at a straight angle to the artwork.

 

This image lacks sharpness.

 

Format and Cropping

Photograph with the best possible quality. Remember that you can always reduce size and quality afterwards, but you can never add quality or size. If you can choose quality in the mobile camera settings, select the best/highest. But many mobile cameras have only a standard setting, which is usually good enough.

 

System cameras and pocket cameras, on the other hand, have more options. Check the settings for Image Quality and Image Size.

 

Utilise the camera’s format: When photographing a drawing with a landscape format, hold the camera in landscape orientation. And vice versa with portrait format.

 

You will likely have some background in your pictures. Crop as much as possible already in the camera. You can easily crop the rest afterwards.

 

Image with unnecessarily much space around the artwork.

 

Here, the photographer has utilised the image area maximally

 

Finally, you might need to crop the image afterwards to remove the rest of the wall. You can do this in an image editing program. Or directly on the mobile if you are using one.

 

In the mobile, you can crop away what should not be included.

 

Scanning Images

A very good alternative to photographing small drawings and paintings is to scan them. It is quick and the scanner captures all details maximally.

 

Photographing Sculptures

Sculptures and reliefs are three-dimensional. Therefore, they need extra care when photographing to capture the sense of form. You can use additional light sources to sculpt the light.

 

A sculpture is sensitive to its background. Preferably, photograph against a neutral, single-colour background. You can create a very simple photo studio using some large sheets of paper.

 

Here’s how you can arrange a simple photo studio.

 

Keep it simple! In this example, the sculpture is photographed on a table with side light from a window.

 

This is how the picture turned out with only side light from the window.

 

This is the setup with ceiling lighting and light from the window.

 

This is how the picture looks with ceiling lighting and window light.

 

Of course, you can also use a coloured background!

 

To exhibit your art in our digital gallery, you need to submit both images and information. First, contact See Your Art.

  • Who created the art? Specify the context.
  • When was the art created?
  • What is the theme of your exhibition?
  • Please provide a brief description of your project.
  • If there is an exhibition text, such as a catalogue, you can attach it as a PDF.

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