There are multiple opinions about painting from photographs vs. working from real life observation. Frankly, like many controversial subjects, I think this one takes on tunnel vision. The important thing is not
where your images come from, but how you experience them and what you do with them. However, there are a few things that we should take into consideration IF we work from photo references.
When working from a single photo reference, especially one taken in direct sunlight, a lot of valuable information can get lost.
For example, if we were working from photo labeled A, we would not see the shadow values correctly, nor would we see some of the details in shadow nor nuances in color that we would see when observing in plein air.
In photo B, I have zoomed into the shadow enough to prevent it from over-exposing, watching my camera's viewer window to be sure I've pulled in close enough
to capture the values as I see them in real life.
In photo C, I've zoomed into some of the details that the camera obliterated in photo A.
We can do this sort of thing when we're gathering reference materials with our cameras, but taking just one shot of any scene is not going to give us what our eyes are seeing.
MUCH CAN GET LOST, MUCH CAN BECOME DISTORTED
In the pair of photos directly below, look at how the reflect light on the leaves gets lost in the photo on the left. I could see those reflected lights with my
eyes, but in the photo of the entire tree, the camera couldn't find them. That's why it's a good idea to zoom into shadowed areas, as well as areas in direct light. Capture as much as you can as quickly as you can before the light changes.
In the two sets of photos in the middle and bottom, I've shown you wonderful stuff that the camera couldn't find in the light areas when shooting the entire
subject. Depending upon the size of your painting, these characteristics can play an important role, but you won't know they are there with a single photo of the entire image. One good rule of thumb is to capture far more than you think you will need.
If there's little time or the weather is not right for doing a plein air painting, the ideal way of working in the field is to do color studies along with
photography. But that's not always possible either. But it takes very little time to capture the full image, then zoom in as close as you can to just shadow areas, areas in full sunlight and those containing little jewels of information.
P.S. If you depend heavily on photography for your painting, I hope you have invested in a really good camera rather than depend upon your phone. Believe me,
it is worth the investment.
ENJOY A DELIGHTFUL WEEKEND!
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