How to Take Photos of Sculptures
- 1). Walk a full 360 degrees around the sculpture, looking at it from every possible perspective. You want to find the perspective that best captures the subject and has the least distracting background.
- 2). Set your camera up on a tripod at your chosen vantage point. Release the tripod plate, screw the plate into the base of the camera and reconnect the tripod plate to the tripod.
- 3). Look through the viewfinder to set up the shot, adjusting the tripod to frame the sculpture. In most cases, you will want to capture the whole sculpture, so make sure there is some room between the sculpture and the edges of the frame. If you are only photographing a specific detail of the sculpture, focus in on that detail and exclude the rest.
- 4). Adjust your camera's exposure settings based on the meter's suggestions. You can use a fast aperture to freeze any motion around the sculpture, but many photographers find it more pleasing to use a slow shutter speed and a small aperture with sculptures, as the subject is not moving. With a small aperture, most of the image in is focus, and a slow shutter speed blurs any people or objects moving around the sculpture.
- 5). Wait for people to clear out or come to the sculpture, depending on whether or not you want people in the shot.
- 6). Press the shutter button to make a photograph.
- 7). Check the exposure on your camera's LCD screen if you are shooting digitally. If you are shooting film, bracket your exposure, especially if there are very bright spots or very dark shadows on the sculpture.
- 8). Repeat this process from multiple perspectives. Getting multiple viewpoints means you can choose which image is best at the computer or in the darkroom. Much of the quality of an image of a sculpture depends on the vantage point from which it was taken, so it's best to get as many viewpoints as possible.
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