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05/15/2010 12:13:12 PM · #1 |
Doe anyone have any experience with photo conservation. We have a major ton of very old photos to new ones that have been badly stored for many years. I would like to get them out of my Mom's attic where they have been for most of my life. She lives in my great grandmother's house and them my grandparents and then my parents, so consequently the picts, negatives and glass plates have been there off and on since 1951 when the house was built. My grandparents I think they added some stuff to it but still there is too much up there. I have been reading up on it but still am unsure how to proceed.
What's the best set up to photograph ones that are too delicate to handle? What is the best way to archive them etc, etc, etc.? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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05/15/2010 12:15:56 PM · #2 |
Ask  Yospiff about this, there's nothing the man doesn't know :-)
R.
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05/15/2010 12:16:35 PM · #3 |
| A good place to contact would be the state archives or historical society as they would deal with this kind of thing on a daily basis. |
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05/15/2010 01:22:53 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Ask Yospiff about this, there's nothing the man doesn't know :-)
R. |
Yes, he knows how to spell Google in Croglodyte. ;) |
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05/15/2010 02:25:21 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Ask Yospiff about this, there's nothing the man doesn't know :-) |
Nice response. You think she takes my word on anything at all? I already told her the best thing to do is tear the pages out and let me run them through a high speed document feeder to scan them. Nice and quick. Get the job done.
...the glass plates might be iffy, but if I score them in the middle I think they'll feed.
Message edited by author 2010-05-15 14:27:01. |
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05/15/2010 02:33:54 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by cpanaioti:
A good place to contact would be the state archives or historical society as they would deal with this kind of thing on a daily basis. |
Or possibly a university library. |
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05/15/2010 04:57:28 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
...the glass plates might be iffy, but if I score them in the middle I think they'll feed. |
ROFL, awesome. Great idea. |
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05/15/2010 05:04:48 PM · #8 |
Have talked to some of them and they were very helpful.
We can take one of the books to our library and pay the fee to have it copied by a special copier/scanner that has a moveable section platform that allows you to even our your surface for the scanner to take the image from over head. You can move the sections until you have flattened out the book for a clearer image.
Most of the other stuff has to be sorted, using white gloves, cleaned if needed, digital images shot and then stored in archive sleeves. The biggest problem for me is justifying the expenses to my MOm that I've done the research and this is what we need. Setting up the lighting, diffusers, soft boxes, etc. That I"m not sure of and was asking if anyone else has suggestions on set up for modern technology to help in this process.
We have some of what's needed but would like to be able to have a set up done, a computer station set up, cleaning station and archive station so that we can pull things out, run them through the process and have to move as little as possible. There is a room on the same level just across a small hall where we can set up and leave things.
I need some equipment suggestions and some website for other items where we can purchase the sleeves, archival items etc. Hopefully even find good prices there too.
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05/15/2010 05:10:20 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by cowtownmom:
Doe anyone have any experience with photo conservation. We have a major ton of very old photos to new ones that have been badly stored for many years. I would like to get them out of my Mom's attic where they have been for most of my life. She lives in my great grandmother's house and them my grandparents and then my parents, so consequently the picts, negatives and glass plates have been there off and on since 1951 when the house was built. My grandparents I think they added some stuff to it but still there is too much up there. I have been reading up on it but still am unsure how to proceed.
What's the best set up to photograph ones that are too delicate to handle? What is the best way to archive them etc, etc, etc.? Any help would be greatly appreciated. |
Ok... If it were me. (Steve forgive me, for I know not what I do..)..
I would setup a table with two sheets of glass, lights and a camera.. As for the glass, I would use simple plate glass, unless you're after serious quality here, then I would use plate glass underneath and museum quality UV glass on top.. I would sandwich the old photos in-between the glass (to flatten out and make 100% planar).. As for the two lights, they should probably be daylight cfl bulbs, put into the cheap aluminum housings with clamps, use some white cloth to diffuse the light, and keep it secured to the housing with a rubber band, setup the lights at an angle to the glass that that lights the surface, but does not reflect when viewed straight on.. (tricky but critical, a circular polarizer on the camera can help with reflections.)
Setup a camera (the 50D prob. (maybe not??)) and use a custom setup (think tripod head mounted to 2x4) to mount the camera such that it's sensor is exactly lined up with the glass.. Now I would use a canon's software and a laptop to setup each shot (you might want some extra batteries, or do they make an AC adapter for the 50D? That would be nice...), using the laptop would make zooming the camera to the right crop much easier..
So, then it's just a matter of more or less following the same procedure for the non-paper photos, obviously, you might not want to try to sandwich these things..
Then you'll have the months of sorting, and restoring (Steve, have you taught her all about PS yet?? you want to?)
Oh and do try to keep Steve's camera tied up as long as possible, so we can have a little less competition around here for a while :) |
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05/15/2010 05:58:26 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by coryboehne:
(Steve, have you taught her all about PS yet?? you want to?) |
It's a little awkward. She has Photoshop CS2 on her Mac, Photoshop Elements 7 on the Netbook, while I use Paintshop Pro. The approach has been for me to explain things using PSP, and then she has to translate it into Photoshop terms.
Originally posted by coryboehne:
Oh and do try to keep Steve's camera tied up as long as possible, so we can have a little less competition around here for a while :) |
I would take that as a challenge to show I can still do well with a point & shoot. Have you looked at the equipment page for the Powershot S5 IS? |
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05/15/2010 06:12:51 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
Originally posted by coryboehne:
Oh and do try to keep Steve's camera tied up as long as possible, so we can have a little less competition around here for a while :) |
I would take that as a challenge to show I can still do well with a point & shoot. Have you looked at the equipment page for the Powershot S5 IS? |
Can you please also break his P&S? ;)
Actually, I can't wait to get my G9 repaired... I want to use it more.
-Cory
Message edited by author 2010-05-15 18:13:46. |
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05/15/2010 07:01:55 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
Originally posted by coryboehne:
Oh and do try to keep Steve's camera tied up as long as possible, so we can have a little less competition around here for a while :) |
I would take that as a challenge to show I can still do well with a point & shoot. Have you looked at the equipment page for the Powershot S5 IS? |
DAYMMMMMMMMMMMM! |
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05/15/2010 10:14:27 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by coryboehne:
... setup the lights at an angle to the glass that that lights the surface, but does not reflect when viewed straight on.. (tricky but critical, a circular polarizer on the camera can help with reflections.) |
You want the lights evenly placed at about a 30° angle on either side of the glass holding down the subject, along this line, with (as mentioned) the plane of the sensor absolutely parallel to and centered on the subject. Pay attention to the focal length as well to avoid distortion. Set a custom white balance under whatever lights you end up using.
The actual "tool for the job" is called a copy stand, and if you have a lot of stuff to archive it might be worth investing in one. Lots of light will let you use a high aperture setting to mitigate DOF issues if you can't get objects completely flat.
Message edited by author 2010-05-15 22:16:07. |
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