How to Photograph Sculpture

Whatever your personal taste, you will find some sculpture that appeals to you, whether it be ancient statues, modern metallic abstracts or anything in between. Regardless of which you prefer, there are certain techniques that you should follow to produce some truly stunning sculpture photographs.

Put Your Own Spin on Things

Statue hand holding cigarette

Try to inject some of your own personality into your sculpture photography. Image by Thomas Hawk.

An important question to ask yourself when photographing sculpture is whether you should try to show off the artist's vision by photographing the sculpture as accurately as possible, or whether you should capture it in a way that expresses what you see in it.

Personally I think that both approaches have their place, but I prefer to put my own spin on things wherever possible - otherwise you can be left with a photo which is little more than a snapshot of somebody else's work.

Next time you're photographing sculpture, first make sure that you actually spend some time taking it in before you get your camera out. Wander all around it and examine it from different angles, and see what features and details stand out and interest you. Then base your composition around that.

Don't be afraid to use an unorthodox camera angle, such as lying on the ground looking up, and don't feel you have to capture the entire sculpture - feel free to zoom right in on one particular area and crop everything else out.

Lighting

Sculpture at sunset with directional lighting

The lighting on this sculpture adds depth to the photo. Image by Lorrie McClanahan.

Sculpture is by its very nature a three-dimensional medium, and you should aim to reflect that in your sculpture photography. Lighting plays a key role in adding depth to a photo. Side-front lighting usually works best because it casts long shadows across the sculpture, picking out the contours and details on the sculpture's surface. The best time for this type of lighting is around sunrise and sunset, when the sun is low in the sky.

If you don't have the option of choosing your lighting, remember that you still have the freedom to move around the sculpture and choose the most eye-catching angle to photograph from. It is often our first instinct to shoot sculpture front-on, from the most obvious viewpoint, but you might find that you can get much better lighting by shooting from the side, so be prepared to experiment.

Background

Statue against a plain background

Choose a composition with an uncluttered background. Image by metrogirl.

When choosing your composition, remember to think about the background - it's very disappointing to take what you think is a fantastic photo only to get home and notice a big distracting sign post in the background.

A plain and uncluttered background usually works best for sculpture photography because it keeps the viewer's attention focused on the sculpture itself. If you're having trouble finding a plain background for your photo then try using a shallow depth of field. This will throw the background out of focus, reducing its impact significantly.

Alternatively you might want to show your sculpture in the context of its surroundings, for example showing a statue in front of a stately home. This can add great interest to a sculpture photo but remember that the sculpture, not the background, should be the main focus of your shot.