P H O T OG U I D E

A R T IST

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 2

THIS GUIDE TAKES YOU THROUGH ALL THE

IMAGES THAT WE USE AND GIVE YOU TIPS

ON HOW TO CREATE HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES

2A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T

TABLE OF CONTENT

KEY SHOTS 3

SETTING UP 4Styl ing 4Approach 4Lighting 5

EQUIPMENT & SETTINGS 6Camera 6Lenses | Focal Length 6Tripod 8Resolution 8Fi le Format 8White Balance | Colour Temperature 9

TOP TIPS 10General Tips 10Artwork Tips 11

CAMERA MODE 13Aperture Prior ity Mode 14Shutter Prior ity Mode 16ISO 18

EXAMPLE IMAGES 19

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 3

KEY SHOTS

1. PORTRAIT**

Mid-shot of yourself

surrounded by artworks or

the studio environment

2. IN SITU**

Wide shot of yourself

surrounded by artworks or

the studio environment

3. ACTION SHOT**

Mid-shot of yourself working

and close-up of hands

4. STUDIO DETAILS

Close-up of brushes,

scattered sketches, colour

palettes , interest ing

decorat ions, etc 

5. WIDE ANGLE SHOT OF

STUDIO

6. WIDE CROP OF ARTWORKS

A number of artworks

displayed on the wall , or

stacked together on the side

(showing quantity)

7. ARTWORK

A straight frontal shot of

the ar twork

8. ARTWORK DETAILS

Interesting detai ls from

various angles

9. ARTWORK INSTALLATION

Shot of the Artwork hanged

in an interior or a gal lery

(Can also be a well done

photo-montage).

10. OTHER

Here you can have fun,

experiment, why not. . .

** P lease take these in Landscape and Portrait Orientation (we use

them for di f ferent purposes) .

You can f ind examples on page 19.

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 4

SETTING UP

A P P R O A C H

S T Y L I N GYOU MIGHT NEED TO STYLE THE SPACE BEFORE TAKING THE

PHOTOS.

• Take an int imate and

informal approach, gett ing

close to the subject whi le

lett ing i t speak for i tself .

• Take pictures in a mixture

of por trait and landscape

or ientat ion. I f i t ’s a shot you

real ly l ike , take i t in both

orientat ions. 

• Keep things that are

essent ia l to your pract ice ,

c lear away empty bott les/

clutter/trash bags, etc. 

• Think about the narrat ive—

what ’s the re lat ionship

between the foreground and

the background?

• Feel f ree to re-arrange any

equipment or props for the

narrat ive whi le keeping a

sense of authent ic i ty.

• Stay true to your sty le

and transmit that in your

photos.

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 5

2700KWarm white

3000KSoft white

4000KNeutral white

5000KCool White

L I G H T I N G

• Aim for br ight and sharp

images.

• Natural l ight f rom a window,

balcony or rooftop is the

best when you don’t have

professional photography

l ights , so take advantage of

good weather. 

• I f you need to re ly on indoor

l ight ing, avoid coloured l ight

bulbs, i f possible , st ick with

neutral or cool white.

• When composing the shot ,

move your l ights or your

subject so the key l ight is

h i t t ing the subject from a

45° angle , and from a height

s l ight ly above the subject ’s

head. Think Rembrandt !

• Some l ight ing issues can

be sor ted by adjust ing the

Aper ture (p.13) , Shutter

Speed (p.15) or the ISO

(p.17 ) .

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 6

EQUIPMENT & SETTINGS

C A M E R ADSLR cameras are preferred, but you can also use a POINT-AND-

SHOT camera or i f you don’t have one, use your SMART PHONE .

L E N S E S | F O C A L L E N G T H

YOUR LENSES CHOICE HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON THE IMAGE THAT

YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE.

A WIDE-ANGLE LENS has a

shor ter focal length (e .g. , 20

mm), which you can include

more scenery in your image.

But i t a lso expands the space

v isual ly, so everything looks

far ther apar t . This is why

people use wide angle lenses

for proper ty photos.

A LONG LENS , or te lephoto,

has a longer focal length (e .g. ,

200 mm), which lets you get

a c lose-up shot whi le being

far away from your subject .

I t compresses the space,

making background objects

look bigger and closer to the

foreground objects than they

physical ly are. I t a lso produces

a shal lower depth of f ie ld

despite your aper ture sett ing,

which is good i f you want to

put more emphasis on your

foreground subject and blur

out a bor ing background. Or to

frame out undesired objects in

the background.

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 7

A NORMAL LENS (e .g. , 35

mm or 50 mm, depending on

your camera sensor) has the

perspect ive most s imi lar to

human vis ion. This is why i t

is commonly used for por trait

shots , prof i le p ictures or

interviews.

When choosing the focal

length, i t is important to

decide based on your v is ion

(composit ion) and also the

environment ’s l imits. For

example , with a long lens, i t

might be dif f icult to move

your camera so far back in a

t ight studio space. And though

a super wide-angle lens can

include more of the studio , i t

may miniatur ise your pr imary

subject and diminish i ts

s ignif icance in the image.

Wide-angle lens

Normal lens Long lens

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 8

• Ideal minimum width is

2880 pixels (s ize of our

banners) , the higher the

better.

• I f you have previous images

in smal ler s ize , do send

them over as we can use

them for our blog.

• Where possible , take your

photos in RAW . This type

of f i le contains more colour

data , so you can edit them

better.

• JPG are also welcome,

note that these f i les are

compressed, so there are

less colour data contained

in the f i le for touch-ups.

• Make sure you select the

format you are comfor table

to work with so you can edit

your photos with ease.

R E S O L U T I O N

F I L E F O R M A T

• Use a tr ipod to compose

your shot , and to avoid

gett ing blurry images under

a low l ight condit ion. 

• I f you don’t have one, set

up your camera upr ight on

a f lat surface using tape or

support i t with objects on

your desk.   

• I f you need to hand-hold

your camera, keep this in

mind: I f you are using a

100mm lens on a ful l f rame

camera, the s lowest shutter

speed we recommend is

1/100. I f you are using a

400mm lens, the minimum

shutter speed recommended

is 1/400.

T R I P O D

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 9

LIGHTS HAVE COLOURS WHICH AFFECT THE COLOUR OF

OBJECTS IN YOUR PHOTO. WHITE BALANCE IS A WAY FOR YOUR

CAMERA TO ADJUST ITSELF AND COMPENSATE FOR THAT

COLOUR DIFFERENCE.

Use Custom White Balance for perfect colours:

W H I T E B A L A N C E | C O L O U R T E M P E R A T U R E

Hold up a piece of white

paper r ight in front of your

main subject/object , say

the ar t ist ’s face or a bucket

of paint brushes, so al l the

l ights that were hitt ing your

subject/object , are now

hitt ing the white paper.

Move your camera closer

and take a photo of the

white paper, and make sure

the white paper covers the

ent i re image.

Act ivate your camera’s

custom white balance

feature.

Select this image, and your

camera should update

one of your custom white

balance colour prof i les.

Don’t forget to select the

updated white balance

colour prof i le before

you star t shoot ing. This

par t icular white balance

colour prof i le is only

suitable under this specif ic

and consistent l ight ing

condit ion. I f you change

locat ion, or the l ight ing

condit ion changes, you

wi l l have to go through the

whole process again.

For detailed instructions to do this, search online for  “Custom White Balance” with your camera’s model number (e.g., “Custom White Balance Canon 70D”).

1 .

2 .

3.

4.

5.

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 10

• Wipe the lens before

shooting. 

• Take some test shots and

f l ip between images to

see i f there are any last ing

stains. I f there are , i t means

your sensor is d ir ty and you

may need to get i t c leaned

before shoot ing.

• Don’t use f lash, unless you

are a professional . Try to

sor t out l ight ing issues with

other resources pointed out

in this guide.

• Use the self - t imer for

sharper photos. 

• Make use of the rule

of thirds. This involves

mental ly d iv id ing up your

image using 2 hor izontal

l ines and 2 ver t ical l ines.

You then posit ion the

important e lements in your

scene along those l ines, or

at the points where they

meet. Your phone or camera

usual ly have a default gr id

(or turn i t on in the sett ings)

to use as a guidel ine when

shoot ing. This is i l lustrated

on the next page.

• Use leading l ines. This is a

technique of composit ion

where the v iewer of your

photos attent ion is drawn

to l ines that lead to the

main subject of the image.

A leading l ine paves an easy

path for the eye to fol low

through different e lements

of a photo. Find an example

on the next page.

TOP TIPS

G E N E R A L T I P S

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 11

A R T W O R K T I P S

• Set up a s ingle , consistent

place to photograph your

work.

• Make sure i t ’s wel l l i t ,

preferably with indirect

natural l ight ing. Do not use

f lash.

• Avoid deep shadows,

tonal inconsistencies and

dappl ing effects.

• A tr ipod is a must.

• Camera should be at the

same height as the centre

of your ar twork. 

• I f your ar twork leans at an

angle , the angle of your lens

should be paral le l to the

ar twork. 

• Set the ISO to 200 and make

sure you custom white

balance your image, so the

colour inf luence on your

ar tworks are minimal .

• Frame in the ar twork with

at least 10% margin in a l l

d i rect ions. Make sure you

crop this in post-product ion.

• I f you’ve framed your

ar twork , photograph i t and

crop i t to look at how i t wi l l

be when i t ’s shipped i .e .

with the frame in the shot.

Crop the image to the outer

edges of the frame.

Use of the rule of thirds grid Use of leading lines for composition

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 12

• I t ’s good pract ice to take

as many detai l photographs

as possible. We would

recommend taking at least 3

to 4 detai led c lose-up

• Take an instal lat ion shot

(perhaps in a gal lery, your

studio or instal led in an

inter ior) . I f you can’t do this ,

a wel l photomontage with

the r ight scale is a good

opt ion.

Artwork Image

Artwork Installation

Artwork Detail Artwork Detail

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 13

CAMERA MODE

When your camera is in

AUTOMATIC MODE (Auto

on the dial ) , you have no

creat ive control as the camera

determines everything based

on what i t sees. 

In MANUAL MODE (M) , you

can adjust each control based

on your creat ive v is ion. I f you

are conf ident in this mode,

you might want to skip this

sect ion.

I f you are not ready to go

ful l manual yet , there are

APERTURE PRIORITY MODE (A

or Av) and SHUTTER PRIORITY

MODE (S or Tv) , which give you

a degree of creat ive freedom

with assistance from your

camera.

Here are some basic things

you need to know:

When taking a photograph,

there are 3 e lements that work

together to control how br ight

or dark your photo is (known

as exposure) , as wel l as

change the overal l look of the

image.

• APERTURE – the s ize of the

opening in the lens which

controls the amount of l ight

that enters the camera body.

• SHUTTER SPEED – the

amount of t ime that the

shutter stays open to let the

l ight in .

• ISO – determines a digita l

camera sensor ’s sensit iv i ty

to l ight .

IF YOU’RE NOT AN EXPERT WITH YOUR CAMERA BUT STILL

WANT TO GET PHOTOGRAPHS THAT LOOK PROFESSIONAL,

THERE ARE WAYS TO ACHIEVE THIS.

WAYS TO ACHIEVE A PROFESSIONAL LOOK BY MAKING THE

MOST OF YOUR CAMERA SETTINGS

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 14

A P E R T U R E P R I O R I T Y M O D EIn this mode, you wil l need to set your aperture (F/number) ,

and ISO, but the camera automatical ly sets the shutter speed .

I t wi l l g ive you control over the depth of f ie ld ( the amount of

b lur effect that you want in your photo) with access to exposure

compensat ion, so you can control br ightness.

Situat ions where using Aper ture pr ior i ty can be helpful :

PORTRAITS

• While taking por trait or

c lose-up shots , you might

want to keep the subject

in focus and blur out the

background by choosing

a large aper ture (smal l f/

number) .

• Use f/1.8 or f/2.8 to achieve

a shal low depth of f ie ld

(blur background effect) .

LOW LIGH

Low l ight condit ion can make

your photos underexposed.

By opening the aper ture

(select ing a smal ler aper ture

value l ike f/1.8 ) , you can al low

more l ight into the camera

and capture a better-exposed

photo.

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 15

• While shoot ing landscapes

or c i tyscapes, you might

want to have both the

foreground and the

background in focus. This

is only possible i f you use a

smal l aper ture sett ing (high

f/number) .

• Use f/16 or f/22 to get a

deep depth of f ie ld (more

objects are in focus) .

MIDDAY BRIGHT SUNLIGHT

• I f you are shoot ing in broad

dayl ight and are gett ing

overexposed photos whi le

shoot ing in automatic mode,

you can reduce the aper ture

s ize. This means that by

using a higher aper ture

number ( l ike f/16 ) , you can

minimise the amount of

l ight enter ing the camera.

STUDIO | LANDSCAPE ( if you work outdoors)

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 16

S H U T T E R P R I O R I T Y M O D E

Shutter Prior ity mode al lows you to take charge of the shutter

speed. Shutter speed is the durat ion at which the camera’s

shutter remains open for l ight to enter the camera and be

captured by the sensor. The slower the shutter speed is , the

more the l ight is received by the image sensor. The faster the

shutter speed, the less l ight would hit the image sensor.

Situat ions to use Shutter Pr ior i ty Mode:

• I f you want to freeze a fast-

moving subject/object e .g. ,

a drop of paint) you wi l l

need to use a fast shutter

speed in order to capture

the moment.

• A shutter speed of anything

faster than 1/500th of a

second is considered ideal

for f reezing an object , but

this may vary depending on

the speed of the subject .

Your camera wi l l adjust the

required aper ture and ISO

values. (You can set this in

auto mode.)

FREEZE A MOVING SUBJECT OR OBJECT

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 17

SHOWING MOVEMENT

• I f you want to capture

movement (e .g. Someone

walking in a studio) , you

wi l l have to select a s low

shutter speed so that

the subject ’s movement

is captured in the s ingle

photo. To capture long

exposure photos, you must

use a tr ipod to avoid any

camera shake.

LOW LIGHT

I f you are in low l ight

condit ion, you might get

underexposed photos whi le

shoot ing in automatic mode.

By s imply reducing the shutter

speed (e.g. , from 1/200th to

1/50th ) , you can al low more

l ight into the camera and

capture a wel l -exposed photo.

BROAD DAYLIGHT

• Shooting in broad dayl ight

in automatic mode can

result in overexposed

photos. Here you should

increase the shutter speed

(e.g. , f rom 1/200th to

1/1000th ) , and minimise the

amount of l ight enter ing the

camera body.

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 18

ISO represents the sensor ’s sensit iv i ty to l ight . The lower the

number the less sensit ive your camera is to l ight , and the less

f i lm grain you wi l l have in the image.

• Higher numbers mean your

sensor becomes more

sensit ive to l ight , which

al lows you to use your

camera in darker s i tuat ions

without changing your

shutter speed, aper ture or

adding more l ights , result ing

in a grainier image.

• 100 ISO is general ly

accepted as the ‘standard’

ISO and wi l l g ive you cr isp

shots (with l i t t le to no

noise/grain) . I f possible ,

keep your ISO under 200 at

al l t imes .

I S O

100

6400

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 19

EXAMPLE IMAGES

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 20

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 21

A R T I S T A S S E T S G U I D E - R I S E A R T 22

I f you have any quest ion or need some help please contact us at

CURATORS@RISEART.COM

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