Photo guide
What Makes a Good Photo for a Painted Portrait
A good reference photo has sharp eyes, even light, the camera at the subject's eye level, enough resolution, and a natural expression. Most phone photos taken outdoors in shade pass all five. Not sure about yours? Send it and we will tell you.
The five conditions
- 01
Eyes in sharp focus
Zoom in on the photo. If the eyes are crisp, the painting will have a likeness; if they are soft, everything else is guesswork. Sharp eyes matter more than a good camera.
- 02
Even, soft light
Open shade, an overcast day or a north-facing window. Direct sun and on-camera flash flatten the form and blow out light coats; dim indoor light hides colour and makes pupils huge.
- 03
At the subject's eye level
Photos from standing height look down on the subject and shorten the face. Kneel, sit or lie on the floor. For a horse, stand at the horse's eye level, slightly to the front.
- 04
Enough resolution
The original file from the phone or camera, sent by email, WhatsApp "as document" or a file link — not a screenshot, not a photo of a print, not a thumbnail from a chat. Old prints can be scanned at 600 dpi.
- 05
A natural expression
Not the one perfect "portrait" face — the one you would recognise across a room. A head tilt, an ear up, a slightly open mouth: if it is your animal, keep it.
Camera at the animal's eye level, light arriving from one side rather than from the camera. Those two choices decide most of what we can paint.
Specialty
Photographing a black dog or cat
Black fur is the most common difficult subject we get, and the problem is almost always the photo, not the animal. A black coat in dim light or harsh sun records as a shape with two eyes; in soft, bright light it records as fur with direction and colour, and that is what we paint.
- Bright shade, not sun. Open shade on a bright day, or an overcast sky. The light is strong enough to show the fur and soft enough not to blow out the highlights.
- Light background. Pale grass, a light wall, a cream sofa. Black on dark loses the outline.
- Expose for the fur. On a phone, tap the animal's face and drag the brightness slider up until you can see the fur's texture — even if the background goes light.
- No flash. Flash flattens black fur and puts a white disc in each eye.
On canvas, black fur is painted as colour — cool blue-blacks in the shadow, warm brown-blacks where the light wraps the form — with highlights along the direction of the coat. Black cats and black Labradors have their own pages.
Do
Bright open shade, a light background, exposed for the fur
Shade gives even light with no hot spots, and a pale background forces the camera to hold detail in the coat instead of crushing it. Tap the face on your phone and raise the brightness until you can see the fur's direction.
Avoid
A dim room, a dark sofa, or direct sun
The camera meters for the room and records the dog as one black shape with two eyes. There is no fur in the file, so there is nothing to paint — we would be inventing the coat.
Do
Soft light from one side, exposed for the face
A north window or open shade keeps the full range of the skin — the warm mid-tones, the cooler shadow, the sheen along the cheekbone. Tap the face to set exposure, and let the background go bright if it wants to.
Avoid
Flash, or a bright window behind the person
Flash flattens the face and leaves a shine with no form underneath; a bright background makes the camera darken the face until the tones collapse into one. Neither gives a painter anything to model with.
People
Photographing darker skin tones for a portrait
Cameras are calibrated for mid-tones, and a phone pointed at a person with darker skin against a bright background will underexpose the face and flash will make it shiny and flat. The fix is the same as for a black dog: light the subject, not the scene.
- Soft, directional light. A window to one side, or open shade outdoors. Directional light shows the planes of the face; flat light hides them.
- Expose for the face. Tap the face on the phone screen and raise the brightness until the skin shows its range — the highlights on the cheekbones and the forehead, the deeper tones at the jaw.
- Avoid a bright background. A sky or a white wall behind the subject fools the meter. Stand the subject with the light on them and the darker part of the room behind.
- No flash.
On canvas, darker skin is painted with the same range as any skin — warm mid-tones, cool halftones, sharp highlights — and reads as luminous when the reference shows the range. People and family portraits.
Blurry, old and low-resolution photos
Yes, usually. A soft photo with recoverable eyes plus a second photo for the coat or skin colour will support a Painterly or Refined portrait; a genuinely sharp photo is needed for Hyperreal. Old prints scan well at 600 dpi, and faded colour, creases and tears are not a problem. When a photo will not work, we say so — and ask whether there is another.
Combining several photos
Pets that were never photographed together, a person who has passed added to a family group, one photo for the expression and another for the pose: we draft the arrangement as a sketch, match scale and lighting, and confirm it with you before painting.
More in the FAQWhat we can work with
- Faded colour, yellowing, creases, tears, a missing corner
- A small print, scanned at 600 dpi rather than photographed
- Soft focus, if the eyes are still readable
- Two or three photos combined — one for the face, one for the colour
- A screenshot, or a photo of a screen
- A face that is lost in shadow or blown out to white — there is nothing there to recover
Send the original file rather than a messaging-app copy; those are recompressed and lose exactly the detail we need.
Photo FAQ
Can you paint from a blurry photo?
Often, yes. If the eyes are recoverable and we have a second photo for the coat colour, a blurry reference can support a Painterly or Refined portrait. We tell you which level it supports before you commit — and we say no when it genuinely will not work.
Can you paint from an old print or a scanned photo?
Yes. Scan at 600 dpi or photograph the print in daylight without flash, flat, filling the frame. Faded colour and creases are not a problem; we work from several scans if the print is damaged.
Can you combine several photos into one painting?
Yes. Pets that were never photographed together, a grandparent added to a family group, one photo for the eyes and another for the pose — combining references is routine. We send a sketch of the arrangement before painting.
What if I am not sure my photo will work?
Send it. That is the whole point of this page: we look at it and tell you honestly, within a business day, what it will support and whether another photo would help.
Not sure if your photo will work? Send it and we'll tell you.
No obligation. We look at the photo and reply within a business day with what it will support, which detail level, and whether another photo would help.
Thank you — we have your inquiry.
We reply within 24 hours on business days. Want an answer sooner? Message us on WhatsApp and mention your name.
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