settings

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dustydes

Senior Member
Need some help

D5100 18>105mm

I'm trying to set my camera to iso100 f/10 with a 5second exposure.
My aim is to photograph some of my oil paintings.
I have purchased a linear polarizing filter but still get glare, so after reading an article on taking pictures of work need to set my camera.
I have tried in S mode but cant change the exposure to 5 seconds.
Please help with as much info on what to do as possible.

As a blatant plug for my work. (sorry)

http://paintings-by-des-pickering.weebly.com/



des
 
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dustydes

Senior Member
Not sure of anything, but that is what is suggested in write up about photographing oil paintings.
Nothing I have tried so far works?

des
 
M

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
dustydes said:
Need some help

D5100 18>105mm

I'm trying to set my camera to iso100 f/10 with a 5second exposure.
My aim is to photograph some of my oil paintings.
I have purchased a linear polarizing filter but still get glare, so after reading an article on taking pictures of work need to set my camera.
I have tried in S mode but cant change the exposure to 5 seconds.
Please help with as much info on what to do as possible.

As a blatant plug for my work. (sorry)

                               Oil paintings by Des Pickering - Home



des
Click to expand...

I can understand your desire to use iso 100 but not the need for the other two,will admit i have never photographed oil paintings.

mike
 
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dustydes

Senior Member
Ok how do I set to 5sec in M mode.

The varnish on the surface of oil paintings reflects the light giving a pattern of wavy lines, the filter helps but does not stop.

My plan was not to use artificial light but filtered light in my conservatory in the evening when the sun is low and its not too bright, but well lit.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
dustydes said:
Not sure of anything, but that is what is suggested in write up about photographing oil paintings.
Nothing I have tried so far works?

des
Click to expand...

There is no way anyone can tell you what exposure to use since there are no two setups that are the same. Lighting is different.

Set up your art where you want to photograph it. Camera on a tripod if you can so you can get it exactly parallel so no distortion. Lights on. Set your camera on ISO 100 to start with. Set your aperture to F10 if that is where you want to start. Camera set on M. Now look in the viewfinder and adjust the shutter speed till the meter is centered. Now shoot and look and the LCD and see how it looks. Also look at the histogram and see if it looks correct. This will give you a good starting point. You may have to shoot 1 stop one way or the other to get it to match the art.
 
W

WhiteLight

Senior Member
Nice paintings!
Well it depends on a number of factors...
firstly make sure you in a controlled lighting environment & there is no light falling directly on the painting.

Tripod is advisable as you certainly need ISO 100 (maybe a wee bit more if the lighting is low)
Choose M mode..
The aperture value does not make any difference as you will be photographing a 'plane' - the canvas, so DOF is not in the question.
Usually most lenses have their sweet spot at around f/8
The camera will tell you what the shutter speed must be for that ISO & aperture setting you've selected.

Set it to that.. use a remote release so there is no camera shake.

make sure that the painting is exactly parallel to the sensor on your camera so you will have an evenly focussed canvas..
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Not quite the same, but here's a photo of a painting :p

dsc_4770_515_x_800.jpg
 
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dustydes

Senior Member
Tracsoft - Don Kuykendall said:
There is no way anyone can tell you what exposure to use since there are no two setups that are the same. Lighting is different.

Set up your art where you want to photograph it. Camera on a tripod if you can so you can get it exactly parallel so no distortion. Lights on. Set your camera on ISO 100 to start with. Set your aperture to F10 if that is where you want to start. Camera set on M. Now look in the viewfinder and adjust the shutter speed till the meter is centered. Now shoot and look and the LCD and see how it looks. Also look at the histogram and see if it looks correct. This will give you a good starting point. You may have to shoot 1 stop one way or the other to get it to match the art.
Click to expand...

Thanks for help I have set in M mode at iso100 F10 now will try as you said.
 
D

dustydes

Senior Member
Ok

Set up painting and got good results with wavy lines, they have now gone
As for pic's I will need to do more work when time permitting.
Pictures are over exposed?
I think I will try with a different F stop and leave at iso100
As for exposure in the light I had it needed to stay well below 5 seconds or turned out white.
Best pic was iso100,f/10,aperture4.3,
and the exposure time was not 5seconds but 1/10 sec
Photo shows far more detail than painting which is fairly dark, lights too light
Still I have managed to get rid of wavy lines which is a big plus.

DSC_0485.jpg
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
dustydes said:
I have tried in S mode but cant change the exposure to 5 seconds.
Click to expand...

Fives seconds is idenified with the " second mark. It says 5". It is a long way down the dial rotation, but it is there.

Those values that say 5 (without the ") means 1/x, or 5 is 1/5 second.

But 5" is 5 seconds.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
dustydes said:
Ok

Set up painting and got good results with wavy lines, they have now gone
As for pic's I will need to do more work when time permitting.
Pictures are over exposed?
I think I will try with a different F stop and leave at iso100
As for exposure in the light I had it needed to stay well below 5 seconds or turned out white.
Best pic was iso100,f/10,aperture4.3,
and the exposure time was not 5seconds but 1/10 sec
Photo shows far more detail than painting which is fairly dark, lights too light
Still I have managed to get rid of wavy lines which is a big plus.

View attachment 44795
Click to expand...

How accurate is the color compared with the actually painting? Same for sharpness? You will have to do some post processing to get color and sharpness to be an exact match.

Glad we did get you in the right ballpark though.
 
D

dustydes

Senior Member
Tracsoft - Don Kuykendall said:
How accurate is the color compared with the actually painting? Same for sharpness? You will have to do some post processing to get color and sharpness to be an exact match.

Glad we did get you in the right ballpark though.
Click to expand...


Ok tried lots of settings.
Moving further away from pic and cropping later gives the best results.
But having issues with colour, my greens are biased to blue, I can probably get rid of this in photo shop but would like to get a better match from camera. Also all pictures are either too dark or too light there seems to be no middle ground.
Still using iso100 F10

Des
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
Color:

Don't use Auto White Balance, esp not for flash. If it is Flash, why not just specify Flash WB? Humans know these things, computers don't always.

Which is still only an approximation, flash color varies with power level (speedlights, full power is more red, low power is more blue). But it is ballpark.

You can include a White Color Balance card in the first test shot, and then remove it for the real shot. This allows correcting the color so it is in fact white. A Porta Brace White Balance card is $5 at B&H, and it is real good.

But lacking that card, you can also just use an 18% gray card, or a regular white envelope, or sheet of cheapest white copy paper to do the same thing. It might not quite be 100% accurate, but it will much closer than any try with nothing.

http://www.scantips.com/lights/flashbasics1f.html
 
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