Photographing prints

[Jesse11]

hi, What is the best way of getting a good overal natural looking photo of a print, my attempts at using flash with a diffuser still gives me an uneven result
this is out of my usual photography comfort zone, would anyone have any suggestions??

thanks

Jessy

 

[Bossy]

Shot it at a 45 degree angle or bounce your flash.

​

 

[dxqcanada]

Diffused sunlight is not bad ... nice cloudy day.
Bossy is correct when using flash ... lights at an angle.

 

[480sparky]

Will the print fit into a scanner?

 

[KmH]

Everything you need to know for doing that is in this inexpensive book:

Light Science and Magic, Fourth Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

 

[KenC]

Will the print fit into a scanner?

Yeah, sometimes a scanner is the best camera!

Otherwise, I agree with dxq about window light on a cloudy day.

 

[MReid]

As mentioned diffused, window light works really well.
Make sure the photo is square to the camera, and that both are on solid rests.

 

[Big Mike]

Window light can be useful, but not ideal. You want to make sure that your piece (art/print etc.) is lit evenly. If you have a window that is closer to one side than the other, the inverse square law comes into plan, and you will have more light reflecting off of one side, than the other.

As mentioned, you need to get your light source away from the camera. Reason is that most prints will have some aspect of direct reflection (imagine that they are somewhat like a mirror). So any light source that is inside the 'family of angles' (something you would see in the mirror's reflection), will show up as glare on your photo. So by moving the light outside the family of angles, you take the glare away. Also, make sure that any light source is not in your family of angles (a window behind you, for example).
But by moving the light outside the family of angles, you run into the problem I mentioned above, with one side being brighter than the other. So you'd want two equal lights, one on each side. I would think that all of this is in the book that KMH mentioned.
(I really have to read that book, one of these days).

 

[KmH]

Yep. It is.

The book discusses the 'family of angles' and the book covers product lighting as well as portrait lighting. All of which is why it is in it's 4th edition.