Night at the Museum
Shooting photographs at any museum is one great way to improve your photographic abilities.

A museum is a superb place to learn photography: there are plenty of interest subjects to photograph -from the museum itself to the visitors- and there are many challenging situations. Since flash is not allowed -and even tripods are sometimes prohibited- you'll have to rest on your pulse, the performance of your camera at high ISO levels, a really fast lens and an image stabilizer. Your technical knowledge may improve very fast in such situations.

Let's begin with our weapons of choice:

The equipment

	Canon EOS 40D We chose the 40D because of its impressive low noise levels at high ISO, live view (for those difficult angles and ultra-sharp focusing), high resolution and overall snappy performance. Any dSLR would do the job but, most compact digicams will fail (no exceptions). >>You can check later our full review here.
	Canon EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS It has a constant maximum aperture of f/2.8 plus a superb Image Stabilizer, fast and accurate auto focus and fantastic image quality. The wide angle 27.2mm plus the 88mm moderate tele is a great focal length range for this shooting session. >> You can check later our full review here
	EW-83J Lens Hood A museum has light everywhere and the hood will tame unwanted light to the lens.
	UV filter (77mm) and Circular Polarizer filter (77mm) The UV is to protect the lens, mostly. With all those windows and glass preserving the museum's valuable pieces, sometimes a circular polirizing filter saves the day neutralizing unwanted reflections.
	8Gb memory card We chose an eight giga bytes card to have plenty room for shooting RAW. Choosing JPG is not bad, but we needed the extra information for post processing and, in case of a memorable photo, printing a big copy would be easy. Other accesories Batteries We didn't need them, but we carried three fully charged batteries just in case. Bag We left it on the car and we to avoid carrying unnecesary items and speed up the security clearance at the entrance.

Just a little background

Mexico City's National Museum of Anthropology and History is worldwide renowned. It has the largest pre-columbian collection in the world. The Mayan, Aztec, Toltec and Mesoamerican cultures halls are breathtaking. The museum permanently displays incredibly beautiful sculptures, masks, textiles and every imaginable object from these ancient civilizations.

The museum itself is a jewel of modern art. Photographing there is both a pleasure and a torture. There is glass protecting pieces everywhere with unwanted reflections and glare. Many items are just impossible to photograph just because of the glass protection. The illumination is pretty sophisticated, but also a great challenge since your camera exposure and metering system may be easely fooled. Obviously tungsten lights are everywhere, so a warm light is a constant challenge for the so-so white balance of the 40D.

Auto-pilot off!

The auto modes of the 40D are very good, but for this photo session it is really important to go manual. There are perfectly lit pieces and ultra dark places (such as the tombs replicas) with very dim light. With such a changing light it is imperative to change ISO settings constantly. The depth of field was also a challenge because sometimes we wanted some nice background blur and very shallow depth of field, but also a wide depth of field for bigger pieces. The changes in exposure are so frequent that using Av or Tv modes is not very practical to get the precise combination of shutter speed, aperture and ISO setting. So, if you really want to learn how to master your "M" mode, a museum is the right place. Remember: "M" is for Museum.

ISO settings

Most of our photographs were shot at ISO 800. It's a pretty high setting, but with really low light it was the only way to maintain a reasonable speed to avoid camera shake blur. Even at such high ISO level, we took advantage of the fast lens. The image stabilizer really saved the day. In some ocassions we had to crank up the ISO levels to 1600 and even to 3200. We knew that we would reduce the moderate noise of the 40D in post production, but it is better to use the lowest possible ISO setting. In some rare ocassions we shot at ISO 400 and in just a couple of shots we used ISO 200.

Speed limit

We tried to maintain the shutter speed at 1/20 sec. and faster whenever possible. While using the tele end we also tried to increase the ISO to follow the old focal-length/shutter-speed rule. With the wide end at 27mm the 1/20sec speed was pretty good, but reaching 1/80sec for using the tele end was nearly impossible.

Enough of technobabble!

It's easy to get lost in the technobabble of aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, etcetera. There are plenty of guides for such matters. But what about the way to design better photographs? There are ingredients and techniques to communicate a specific message trhough your images. Let's check some of them:

Adding movement: diagonal composition

Trying the old horizontal and vertical composition is OK, but sometimes you may find that using an angle will produce diagonal lines providing more movement and dynamic a flow to your compositions. (You can see all these samples at larger sizes in the Gallery at the end of this article).

Rule of thirds and off-center framing

When you frame your subject off-center you'll compose a less static design that will be more interesting. You can use the rule of thirds and leave empty space in the photo called "negative-space". This negative-space exists and has a shape. With a nice and simple background the main subject will be nicely emphisised.

Centered subject

There's nothing wrong with a centered subject. It provides stability to the design. The secret of these ingredients is not to over use them and to achieve movement between your shoots. We are emphisizing each framing technique by grouping similar photos, but the idea is that your collection has variety within unity and unity despite variety.

Cropping

For some simmetrical or very well known subjects, or in order to add drama and mystery to the composition you may dare to crop them dramatically. The result is powerful.

Background

Beware of overly complex background that tend to distract. Sometimes having a cluttered background is impossible to evade. The simpler the background, the more powerful the foreground.

Framing

Photography is about decisions, and they can dramatically change the design of your images. Even choosing a landscape or portrait arrangement may change considerably the final outcome. Sometimes you will want to include the full piece in the frame, or you may choose to leave something out. With important subjects try a good amount of variations, specially if they are very well known subjects: it's like photographing the Eiffel Tower, you really need to find a fresh approach or your photo will look like a postcard.

Under exposing the Lord Pacals jade death mask

This is a replica of Lord Pacals jade death mask and jade necklaces from Pacals tomb in the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque. The original mask was stolen from the museum in 1985, and it has yet to be recovered .

This legendary mayan jade mask is much more difficult to photograph than it seems. It is in a very dark chamber behind a glass. The problem are the reflectors that produce extreme contrasts. We under exposed two stops knowing that we could fix the fill light with Adobe Lightroom. As you can see, we tried different angles and distances, we even moved intentionally the camera with a diagonal composition to creat an expressionistic approach.

Texture

This museum is the texture's paradise with highly contrasty illumination the makes the carved stone live. These textures are so beautiful that you can never get tired of capturing them.

Light

Sometimes the careful illumination is a work of art by itself shaping forms and creating atmospheres. Don't forget to capture beautifully lit scenes.

Volume

Lights and shadow over a reflective object provide the effect of three dimensions. In the renaissance it was called chiaroscuro (light/dark) and Leonardo Da Vinci was the artist/scientist that observed how two-dimensional objects had no shadows at all and that three-dimensional objects created levels of shadows. Round objects cast soft shadows that provide a better idea of shape, mass and even weight.

Two-dimensional flat surfaces

Three-dimensional objects that suggest volume with shadows

Color and Monochrome

This museum is great because you can enhance the color on the photos or you may choose to use a monochromatic approach.

Colorful images may get ruined with a monochromatic approach. The guideline is: if you convert them to grayscale and the photo loses interest, the key was in color.

Monochromatic subjects: the color is not the center of interest. If you convert your photos to black and white without any significant loss, then the emphasis was on the shape, volume and texture.

Space

Abstraction

Although most of the pieces at this museum are figurative sculptures or paintings, it is possible to achieve a composition (design) of abstract qualities. That means the photos may enhance the form by itself. The following examples are a good starting point.

These photos are from chambers, but you can see angles and shapes formed that have a graphic value by themselves. The abstract effect is more dramatic with this thumbnail-sized photos. If you'd see this photographs at a poster size you'd had to step back quite a bit to see the abstract effect of the general layout to avoid the distraction of details.

Here we have an extremely abstract shape. What is it? From the point of view of abstraction it doesn't matter.

This photo has a strong yet simple form. At this thumbnail level it's impossible to see the silhouette of the man inside.

It is not rare that many contemporary artists (such as Picasso) used primitive forms of art due to their almost abstract qualities.

Theme and variation

With such an impresive collection, many items are worth a picture of a single object, but sometimes a collection of the same kind of articles may be more interesting than a single piece. Museums have cleverly and carefuly arranged similar items with homogeneous styles and from corresponding time. It is easy to overlook these arrangements.

Perpective

Since the renaissance, perspective remains in vogue. The pespective adds physical dimension to your photos and a clear center of interest.

Choose your message and find the proper way to tell it

The question is: what are you looking to produce with your photos? Do you want to capture reality? Do you want to share your unique vision to a classic theme? Do you want to provoke your viewer? Choose the right ingredients to communicate with your images the message you want.

The same subject can change dramatically with a different point of view (in this case from bottom to top) and framing with an angle for a more exciting composition.

In this case, the same subject may produce very different reactions, moods, and are expressions of the same images.

Contrast

In the case of chiaroscuro there are subtle variations in the grades of shade, but with high contrast it is more like a black and white approach. In some cases contrast may be dramatic, providing very strong shapes, in others it still provides chiaroscuro but with an emphasis on the different scales of darkness and lightness.

Point of view

Don't forget to try different points of view, from the top or from the bottom.

Undesired reflections

They are the greatest annoyance of museum photography, and are unavoidable in many cases. Many of the pictures in this article are behind a protective glass that seems invisible. There are several ways to avoid reflections:

- Find the best angle to avoid reflection; sometimes just one step to the side will be enough.

-You can manage to crop the image, enhance the main subject colors and reduce the reflections saturation in post production.

-Try using a circular polarizing filter.

-Use manual focus to avoid auto focus to get fooled by the reflection.

-Sometimes there's no antidote, and either you choose to include the reflection or you forget about shooting a particular subject.

Scale
Many times, you need a human being to have a sense of scale with huge subjects.

Complexity and simplicity

An image filled with detail is very complex and provides a lot of material for both the eyes and the brain to work with, but it may be confusing and sometimes even overwhelming. Simple forms are not as interesting but they have a calming effect. Simple shapes are minimalistic and easy to remember and distinguish. All these examples have been shown before on this article; you can easily recall the simpler images.

Mood

In a museum like this, you may find many sculptures and paintings actually distressing. What kind of mood are you looking to reflect with your photographs? Find the suitable subject for each temper. And, guess what? Simpler shapes calm, and complexity tends to anguish. The next time a film director hires you to design the costume of the foe you'll know what kind of style will be scarier.

Context

The museum itself can be a piece of art, or the visitors may be interesting. Don't forget to include them in your set of images.

Let's go to the museum!

The museum we chose is enormous and has incomparable pieces. There are very few museums like this in the world. It's so massive that it is easy to get tired and to stop seeing. If you choose a smaller museum try to spend a good time with each piece. Once you've done your first session try to return; you'll know the best subjects and you'll have some new ideas. In any case, a museum is a great place to learn... photography!

Museum Photo Gallery

In this gallery you'll find almost 200 pictures that you can check at bigger size. Here's a little game: see each picture and find what kind of technique we used and the challenges of each particular shootings. This gallery includes many photos not featured in this article. >> Go to the gallery here.