How can I keep the camera perfectly square to flat artwork to minimize perspective distortion?
Asked 8/11/2011
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2 answers
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When photographing flat 2D subjects such as artwork or documents, what’s the easiest way to align the camera so the lens axis is perpendicular to the subject and perspective distortion is minimized? Small alignment errors can be hard to see in the viewfinder or on the rear screen, but become obvious later as uneven borders or slightly skewed edges. I’ve tried using a mirror in place of the artwork and centering the lens reflection in live view, which helps, but I’d like easier or more reliable methods—especially for keeping the camera level at the same time.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
3
Create a level surface to lay the artwork flat on - you can use a spirit level to make sure it is level.
If the artwork itself isn't very flat, either get a clean piece of glass larger than the artwork to lay on it or mount it to something flat. If using the glass approach you need to light the artwork with lamps to the left and right of the subject facing it at 45 degrees.
Then use a tripod with a built in spirit level (or get one of the hotshoe mounted levels) and level that looking directly down at the artwork.
This would more or less reproduce the environment I used to shoot artworks for greetings cards on back in my lab days except we had an industrial vertical camera mount with flat surface for the artwork attached below it, and I was using a bellows 5x4 plate camera :)
Originally by user3664. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3664
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Use a tripod and level both the subject and the camera. For artwork lying flat, place it on a truly level surface and verify with a spirit level; if it isn’t flat, mount it to something rigid or place clean glass over it. Then level the camera/tripod so it points straight down. A tripod head with built-in spirit levels on multiple axes is ideal, but a hot-shoe bubble level or your camera’s electronic level can work too.
If the artwork is on a wall, use the tripod/head levels to center both axes so the camera is square to the vertical plane.
Your mirror method is also valid for checking alignment, especially with live view magnification.
Keep in mind that perfectly exact alignment is difficult in practice, and some geometric distortion will always exist. The goal is to minimize it as much as possible at capture, then make small corrections in post if needed.
If you use glass to flatten the artwork, light it from the left and right at about 45° to reduce reflections.
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