Rloren wrote:
Well, I am thinking of getting out of the house, like I should more, and visiting the Louvre Museum and come home with some great photos of the artwork there. I must admit, I am only an occasional photographer who takes his DSLR on vacation and for my purposes shooting on auto and jpeg serves most of my purpose for outdoor. I do shoot on manual when I get on a roll but generally have to re-educate myself on using that mode.
I see that photography in certain areas of the museum is allowed but you cannot use flash. Am guessing even with flash it would make a mess with bounce back reflection.
I am looking for some advice on where to start with manual settings. Enough light will be a big concern of course and am thinking of shooting with raw and jpeg but especially raw for insurance. What do you think? I would appreciate any input....thanks.
Well, I am thinking of getting out of the house, l... (
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We travel a lot, and like art museums and galleries a lot as well. They are good destinations when the weather is bad. I like photographing the artwork in museums; saves a lot over buying a book.
First thing, I carry a good white balance card or color checker, and put it in the light in each room (it captures the color cast in rooms that have different colored walls, as well as the temperature of the lighting itself). I hold it in the light, in front of a painting, and take a picture. I use it later for color correction. This is important, as auto WB is going to adjust based on the colors in the artwork, and that is not good.
Second thing, I use a mirrorless camera with excellent image stabilization. This lets me use slower shutter speeds, so I can keep the ISO (and noise) at a minimum. If you aren't using stabilized gear, then be sure to apply the appropriate shutter speed rules (such as 1/focal length for full frame). I usually use a shutter speed of 1/15 second, and will slow it down even more in really dark rooms.
You want an aperture that gives you good depth of field. This is important because you often aren't taking pictures head on to the artwork. And it ensures sufficient sharpness even if focus is a bit off. I use apertures from f/4 to f/5.6 equivalent. And, unless your lens is near peak sharpness wide open, you will want to stop down a bit to improve sharpness.
I use Auto ISO; just to keep the image preview bright enough to see. I shoot RAW, so ISO is generally not an issue. Usually around 200-400 but will let it float to 1000 if appropriate. ISO will vary due to the brightness of the artwork as well as the intensity of light. I adjust image brightness during post to consistent levels using the brightness of the walls.
Most of my images are taken at 50mm equivalent focal length, but larger artwork may require 35mm or wider. If the artwork is hung high, then you will want to step back and use longer focal lengths (I use up to 85mm), just to reduce the keystone effect and the required depth of field. Otherwise, the top or bottom of the art could be out of focus.
In post processing, I level and square up the images, adjust WB or correct color, and adjust brightness based on the brightness of the walls, and then crop to the edges of the frame. Sometimes the lighting is not very uniform, so I will even it out with graduated exposure adjustment.
If there is glare (especially a problem if the art is behind glass), I will take several images from different positions, and combine in post.
Sometimes, a polarizing filter is needed to eliminate reflections. I use magnetic filter holders so a CPL can be added quickly. Or just take from different positions and combine in post.
Sometimes I do a manual lens distortion correction to correct barrel distortion.
Most editing can be done in Lightroom. Except when I need to combine images, and then it's off to Photoshop.