How to photograph your work
A buyer will not see your work in person until they have bought it, so the photograph is all they have. You do not need a camera for a good one — a phone, a window and ten minutes are enough.
1The main photograph: the whole work, straight on
Hold the phone level with the middle of the work and parallel to its surface — not from below or from the side, or the rectangle becomes a trapezium. Let the work fill the frame, then crop right to its edge: on our wall every work hangs at true scale, so any wall left around it would be shown as part of the picture.
2Light
Daylight from a window is best, on an overcast day or out of direct sun, falling on the work from the side. Turn off the flash and the room lights — mixed light turns white yellow or blue. If varnish or glass shines, step aside until the reflection is gone.
3Colour
Turn off filters and automatic "enhancements". Once uploaded, compare the photograph with the work by the same window: if the colours do not match, the buyer receives a different picture from the one they bought.
4The phone
Use the standard lens (1×), not the wide one, which bends the edges. Better still, step back and zoom to 2×. Turn on the grid to keep level, and tap the work to focus.
5More views
Detail: the surface up close, so brushwork, texture or glaze shows. Edge and side: the work at an angle, to show the depth of the canvas or the shape of the object. Back: signature, stamp, hanging fixture. In a room: the work on a real wall or shelf, for a sense of scale.
6Sculpture, ceramics and objects
Stand the object in front of a plain light wall, or on a sheet of paper that curves up behind it, and shoot from the object's height. We remove the background ourselves so it can stand on a shelf or plinth in the room — a calm background gives a cleaner edge.