Taking Your Own Reference Photos
Do you go searching the internet or social media sites to find photos to use for references to paint? Do you ever forget where you found your reference photo or the photographer who took the photo so you can credit them? I certainly have and that’s why, as a colored pencil artist, I wanted to be free of those limitations and expectations, so I started taking my own reference photos. This made creating art much more liberating for me. When I finish a piece, it’s original from start to finish because I took the photo of the subject matter. I don’t have to be concerned someone on social media might be offended (rightly) because I didn’t credit them for the photo or have to worry about copyright infringement.
I would like to encourage you to step out and take your own photos. In today’s world you can have a great phone right in your hand with your cellphone. The images the cameras in these phones take greatly rival any DSLR camera. I have a DSLR and the photos it takes are really good, but so are the ones my iPhone XR take. Actually, I have some shots of the same subject taken with the DSLR and the iPhone, and the iPhone photo was superior! I still take my DSLR camera out for photo opportunities as well, but I’m not limited to it. I just want to help you think beyond having to have a DSLR to get good photos. Even a lot of the point and shoot cameras take really great photos now as well. So, I’ve learned to use whatever camera is accessible when I see something I might like to paint someday.
I walk almost every day and it’s amazing how many sunrises/sunsets, beautiful flowers, interesting trees with the lighting at the time, cats/dogs, and more I’ve captured. I upload them to my computer, so I can reference them later when I need access. I use Adobe Lightroom to organize my photos. I made folders for Landscapes, Flowers, Trees, etc. and then create keyword tags in Lightroom to give me an easy way to find those photos later. For example, in my flowers folder are all kinds of flowers, but if I use the keyword tags on each photo, I can narrow the search for “roses” or “tulips”, etc. in a timely manner. It just makes it very simple to find things when I’m in the mood to paint a subject matter.
I also gather things in my house and take still life shots. I’m starting to collect things I think would work in the kinds of shots I like to take. You can do the same! This is so fun to do as I rearrange items, change lighting, etc. and take a lot of different shots of those items. Some of those shots don’t turn out as well as I had hoped, but some turn out beautifully. I catalog those in my collection for future inspiration to paint. Photography has turned out to be a fun part of my being an artist. It’s also made me more comfortable in sharing my work by not having to remember who took the photo or what place it came from. I don’t have to be concerned about copyright infringement in case the photo I used had been placed wrongly on a website (yes, it does happen). It’s a good feeling when I share my art work to be able to say “photo reference my own”.
So, get a camera and take some shots! You will be amazed at the collection you will have in a short time.
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