Unlike paintings which can be replicated with considerable ease and amazing degree of accuracy in no time, sculpture is a much more rigid art form.
Simply because whereas a painting is a two dimensional art form, sculpture is a three dimensional art form and its mass duplication is impossible. As a result, the last few years have seen a very high increase in demand of sculpture photography. So much so that photographing a sculpture has by itself become an art form.
If you have a good hand with the camera and think that you understand the basics of sculpture, then this is just what you have been looking for. You can make a good career out of this new art form, the below mentioned tips will help you a lot.
First of all, you must develop the tendency and capability to put your own spin on things. The reason here is very simple. When the sculptor made his art form, he presented his own vision. Now that you are about to take a photo of what he made, you are about to create a new art form. This is your own, personal art form and the sculpture is the subject here which needs to be presented in your own vision.
You must realize that it is not very easy to put your proverbial spin on the things. You need to have a very clear vision, a mental picture of what you want the photograph to look like. Visualization is not something that everyone is born with but if you make a whole lot of effort and remain persistent, you can build up a capability to visualize based upon what you see and notice in real life as well as the work of other people.
Lighting is another very important aspect of photographing a sculpture. The kind of lighting that will be needed depends upon a number of factors. First of all, you must check if the sculpture is placed outdoors or inside a gallery. If the subject is placed in a gallery, you must check what kind of ambient lighting is available. If it is placed outside, you need to check the direction and intensity of sunlight and how it illuminates the art form. Then you should merge it with what you want the output to be like.
Next you must choose what kind of background you will want for the photograph. If you can do with natural background, so much the better. If not, you must explore what other background options are available. Note that the composition of your sculpture photography must never lose focus from sculpture itself.
Along with this, other basic tips of good portrait photography also apply to this new art form.
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