Taking photographs is the easiest way to get references of a subject you wish to paint. They're also essential if it's a subject you're not going to encounter again easily, such as a landscape in an area you're visiting or an exotic bird. But if you're finding that your painting is ending up stiff, or just not working right, it may be because you're not taking enough photographs.
Some people scorn the idea that an artist should use reference photographs at all, insisting that the "proper" way to do it is to use a sketchbook. While making on-the-spot sketches is ideal as it means you're interpreting what you're seeing rather than merely observing it, the reality is that we don't always have the time to make the kind of detailed sketches we need for when we're back in our studio. Photographs should be considered high-tech sketchbook for busy artists.
It's a Reference Photo Not Art
You should not try to take one "perfect" shot that you will use as the basis for your painting. Instead, take at least half-a-dozen photographs, none of which need be the perfect shot. You'll use these together to reconstruct the scene in your mind's eye. By using them as a reminder to stimulate your memory of the scene, you'll get a looser painting than if you try to recreate the scene from one photo.
Don't spend time trying to take the perfect shot, rather use it to observe the scene. Then, if you've got the time, make some sketches to capture the essence of some of the elements. Such as the way the main branches on a tree curve or the outline of a building's roof and walls. Your photographs and your memory will be able to fill in the colors. You can also make up a scene by taking elements from various places you've been or things you've encountered and putting them together.
Use Photos as a Memory Aid
The two small lion photos shown here were taken during a wildlife painting trip to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. It was lying in the early morning sun grooming like an overgrown domestic cat. The photos bring back the memory extremely clearly, particularly of his enormous tongue. As he was lying in most uninteresting scenery, there was no point in taking any landscape photos, only photos for adding a lion in some other scene. The pen-and-wash sketch was made at another lion encounter. No single element would be a great painting, but together they help recreate the experience in my mind's eye.
