Your painting isn't "wrong" online — your photo might be. Bad documentation costs trust: colors shift, glare hides texture, skewed angles make rectangles look trapezoidal. I'm not a pro photographer, but I've learned a few rules that keep my gallery honest — from marbling canvases lined up in the studio to Mushy-Lisa standing in a yard.

Diffuse light wins

Direct sun or a bare bulb throws hard highlights on varnish and oil. Overcast days near a window, or a softbox/umbrella if you have one, flatten the glare curve. If you must use a phone flash, bounce it off a white wall or don't use it at all. The leaf-print series shows every pressed vein — harsh light turns those details into white holes.

Parallel to the surface

Align the camera sensor parallel to the picture plane. Stand centered; use a tripod or stack of books. Fix minor perspective in editing, but get close in-camera. For sculptural work, pick one "hero" angle and a couple of three-quarter views — consistency matters more than quantity. The steampunk rifle photos use the same jack-stand height so scale reads true across shots.

Color check

Shoot a gray card or white sheet in the same light if you're color-critical. Warm indoor LEDs will make everything peachy. I tweak white balance until a known neutral area looks neutral, then compare to the piece in hand — not memory, the actual object. Galexy Far cyan can shift to teal online if I'm lazy; collectors notice.

Environment tells a story

Floor shots with drop cloths, workshop clutter, dogs — I include them on purpose. They're not always the hero image, but they prove the work exists in a real studio. The framed wall shot and the floor shot together tell a truer story than a cropped square alone.

Crop like a human

Leave a sliver of breathing room or crop true to edges — don't accidentally slice a signature or tension line. Export at a size your site can load; sharp downsized beats fuzzy full-res. This site serves full photos from the gallery folder — I balance quality against load time because AdSense and visitors both hate a slow page.

Batch days

When I add a new album — leaf prints, sketches, a 3D print batch — I photograph in one session with the same light setup so the folder feels cohesive. Mixed lighting across one album makes the work look inconsistent even when it's not. Consistency in documentation is a love letter to future you, and to anyone comparing pieces before a commission.