Art Photography / Image Capture

Image capture (art photography) is the process of obtaining a digital image from a vision sensor, such as a camera affixed with a digital scanning back like our own capturing system.

Art photography - Painting by Northern Virginia artist Teresa Oaxaca, viewed through the back of a traditional view camera.

Artwork by Teresa Oaxaca

Old Town Editions uses the best digital image capture equipment available for the reproduction of art and artifacts of all sizes.

Our capture system is the Better Light Super 6K digital scanning back paired with our Cambo Legend 4×5 view camera.  Our lighting is two 900 watt North Light copy lights with UV filters to protect the art and artifacts from excess UV exposure.  This system allows us to capture details of the original artwork that are barely visible to the human eye.

High gloss or metallic paints are not an issue to capture.

You may be asking yourself “Can I photograph my own work?”.  The quick answer is a little yes and mostly no.  Please follow the link to see our answer on this common question.  This article also explains why working with the high resolution equipment is even more important if you ever intend to make giclee prints from your captures.

All artwork is not created equal.  There are many lighting techniques and photo filter combinations that must be used to accommodate for the individual features of your art or artifact. An experienced art photographer should not be asking you to change the way you paint just so they can get a good shot of your artwork.  A seasoned art photographer will know which techniques to utilize in order to overcome any challenges in lighting and photographing each individual piece of art.

We can capture artifacts stored under Mylar/Acetate.  Many framed pieces can also be captured in their frames.  We will suggest removing a piece from the frame if we feel that there will be a compromise in quality. This may be due to old, dirty glass or deep mattes/frames that cast shadows onto the original, as well as other unique situations.

Using the large format “Better Light” digital capturing system allows us to capture your image at an equivalent to 216 mega pixels.  We can handle originals up to 5×8 feet in our studio. For our art photography/image capture service we provide a 30″x40″ 300MB+ size file for all items, even small pieces.  This offers nearly endless enlargement possibilities.  On site photography is offered for large collections of work, oversized pieces that do not fit in our studio or high valued pieces of art that cannot travel.

Pricing for image captures:

When paired with file prep: $60
Capture only: $75
4’x5’ and over or same day capture: $125

Stand Alone Image Capture Discounts:

If you bring 10 originals for the stand alone capture they are $60 each instead of $75.

Image Capture Discounts When Paired with Image File Prep:

If providing multiple originals of similar size and value (paintings that differ by 2 inches or less and are of the same medium) accompanied by a file prep,  there is an opportunity to save the second, third, or even fourth capture cost. This can equate to a discount of $240 or more.

Example: If you bring in (4) 16 x 20 inch paintings and receive a capture and prep it could cost only $60 for the capturing instead of the alternative $60 each ($240 total)  if done individually. The prep cost is still $200 each and can not be discounted based on quantity.  Each file takes hours of preparation and printing and cannot be batch processed.  We can discount the second, third, and fourth capture in this situation due to the fact that the camera system does not need to be set up again for the consecutive capture.  This saves us time, which saves you money.

Art photography - Artwork by Cara Peterson, depicting Frida Kahlo, lit by our copy lights in Alexandria, Virginia

Artwork by Cara Peterson

More About The Better Light Scanning Back:

As their name implies, Better Light’s digital scanning backs do not capture an image of the subject in front of the camera all at once, but rather by physically moving a unique, highly-optimized trilinear color image sensor smoothly across the image plane, building up the image one line per color at a time.”  betterlight.com

“There is no finer method of direct digital image capture than a skilled photographer with a Better Light scanning back in a large-format camera.” betterlight.com

“Better Light files are cleaner, sharper, and more accurate” shutterbug.com