If you are an owner of a work of art like paintings, drawings and sculpture, you might want to photograph them. Of course, it is always nice to have a digital image of your art collection, but you will also need it for the homeowner's insurance.

You might also find a need to photograph a painting or a finding from a flea market if you want to identify the value of the object and want to send a picture to an appraiser or any other interested party. On the other hand, you might need a photo is you want to sell a art work and want to have an attractive shot to get the interest of different buyers.

There are many reasons why a person would want to photograph paintings, drawings and sculptures. And, you do not even need your own SLR or DSLR camera. You can get reasonably good photographs just by following the steps mentioned below.

The first thing that you need to thing about is how compose your shot. Make sure that your camera is at a right angle to the piece that you want photographed. It if is hanging on the wall, you need to be in the center to point the lens squarely at it. This way you will avoid a clockwise or anti-clockwise square. The lens and the piece have to be on the same parallel. Do not think about moving the viewfinder up, down or sideways.

If the piece is large, like a painting, the best alternative is to make piece lie down on the floor. Then you can shoot is from above as you look down at it. Of course, you would have to use a chair or step ladder depending how large the piece of art it. If you rest the piece against the wall, you will end up distorting the picture.

If you are taking a picture of a 3-D object, then you should place yourself at eye level. This could involve kneeling. So, be prepared for it.

Natural indirect light is the best. Make sure the room where you are taking the picture has windows that let in indirect sunlight. However, make sure that the sun rays do not hit the object as it would create a glare. Also, you would be ruining the art work by placing it in direct sunlight.

Supposing you do not have windows that let in indirect sunlight, you can use artificial lighting. Two or more light sources of equal wattage should do the trick, and they should at 45 degrees to the piece of art. This will avoid shadows falling on the piece.

Even if you do not have a tripod, you can use both your hands to hold the camera, draw both your elbows to your midpoint until they are nearly touching each other, or you can hold your breath and then click the picture. All these steps will help to minimize motion that tends to distort pictures.

Above all, make sure that you turn the flash off. You should only use the flash you have mastered the technique of bouncing off the flash from the center surface of the object. If the piece has a shiny area, the flash will highlight it making the end result of the image unrecognizable. The bright spot will not look anything like what it is actually present on the piece.