Photographing Your
Work – 35mm Slides
by Armand Cabrera
It is imperative that you have slides made of all your
paintings. I use them for advertising, publicity, gallery
submissions, book publications and competitions. I personally
shoot 35mm slides and digital images of all my paintings.
For my larger pieces, I always have 4 x 5 transparencies
shot at Iris
Photo Digital, here in San Francisco. For this article,
I’m just going to talk about 35mm slides. If you
have the proper equipment, you can shoot your own slides.
This will save you a lot of time and money.
First of all, I do not recommend shooting slides outdoors.
Because wind and inclement weather can delay a slide shoot
for days, it’s best to shoot your slides indoors
where you will have control of the light and be able to
count on consistent results.
Your photography supplies can be purchased through any
good photography store.
I recommend B&H Photo because they are professional
and have competitive prices.
B&H Photo
420 Ninth Ave.
New York NY 10001
1-800-947-9950
www.bhphotovideo.com
CHECK LIST
- 18% gray card
- A good SLR camera with a cable remote control
- T160 slide film
- 3200k photoflood lights.
- Two light stands that are collapsible metal
- Light sockets (Fotolite SCBI high heat socket &
switch with 8ft cord and wood handle)
- Metal skirts (12 inch Fotolite)
- Clip-on plastic diffusion screens (12 inch Fotolite)
- A black sheet…board..…or something with
a matte, black surface to use as a backdrop
- An easel... I use a collapsible black presentation
easel
Set up your easel, backdrop, camera and lights according
to the diagram below.
Place your painting on the easel so that it is perpendicular
to the camera lens.
Place the black backdrop behind the painting so that
the easel does not show.
The lights on their stands should be set up at 45-degree
angles, four feet from the painting.
I shoot an 18% gray card on the first exposure to key
everything for the slide developer.
Make sure the image fills the viewfinder, centered with
the least amount of distortion as possible with your lens.
I recommend a 65mm lens to lessen image warp.
Move the camera or lens, not the painting when focusing.
To reduce camera shake, use a cable remote to take the
picture.
If you like, you can bracket the exposures one-half stop
in each direction.
Be sure to record the information to compare results
after developing.
