Hi everyone. I’m new to this forum and have some, though admittedly very little experience with photography.

I’m an artist and need to take photos of my work for my website, brochures, etc. The problem I have is they are all coming out gray.

All my drawings are stippled using pen and black ink. The paper I use is usually a bright white, not larger than 20”x24”. I was told that I should take the photos outdoors on an overcast day (something I was not fond of doing) or in a room with lots of windows but no direct light on the artwork. I’ve tried both and get the same results. The photos are usually light in one corner of the work and then fade to a dark gray as you move across the drawing. Or the entire picture is gray. I am also losing a lot of detail.

I’ve tried to correct the photos using Photoshop but do not have any training at all using the program so I’m pretty much just winging it there. What seems to happen is if I can it light enough I lose even more detail.

In one of my art magazines it outlined a cheap studio setup. They recommended using two of those frosted light panels that are used in suspended ceilings attaching them to ladders or whatever is available; then placing a couple of halogen lights behind the panels. They also recommend investing in a light meter. Does that sound like it would work?

I can’t afford to go to a professional photographer so unfortunately that’s just not an option right now. I think I can do this if I could just figure out the lighting.

Also, I just have a point and shoot Olympus C-750 UltraZoom digital camera. I can however control the settings, just not sure what the best settings would be.

Here is a link to a piece I am currently trying to photograph. It’s blurry but a good example of the problems I have with them coming out gray:

http://pointartimages.com/pointart_i...by_pam_030.htm

Thanks in advance for any help.