 Amy L. Maalmi |
How to shoot old fashioned domed pictures Hi everyone. I work at an imaging store and we frequently have people bring in their old domed photographs for restoration or copy, but I can't figure out how to shoot them without getting glare. Most of these brought in cannot be removed from the glass; they are stuck on. Does anyone have any suggestions?
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W. |
Try a proper lighting stand, with the lights illuminating the object from the side, and the lens peeping through a hole in a big black (cardboard?) surface.
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Amy, When I was a boy, back in the Stone Age, I worked, after school, for a local photographer. His thing was the “carriage trade” preferring to do business with the county club set. He often lured clients via an offer that included a free large print. I worked in the darkroom developing and printing. To satisfy that offer I choose a suitable negative and make a large print and tone it sepia or brown. I then mounted on heavy cardboard stock. I used a hot dry-mount press and thermal setting adhesive. The press had a convex platen that molded the print into a dome shaped oval. Sure enough, my boss would give away the print. The hook was; his shop was the only place that had the matching frame with domed glass. Every free print thus yielded big bucks via frame sales. As to how to copy: You are not going to like this! Assuming the picture has and is deteriorating; you can immerse the whole thing in a large shallow pan of purified water. The water depth should be just enough to cover all. After a time, the water will settle to a stable state. Now you can copy with minimal distortion. Likely, after the session, given time, the water will evaporate leaving the framed print unharmed. You must understand, the water-bath is the method of last resort so your best alternative is tenting using polarizing screen filter on the camera. This is lighting with heavy diffusion, you construct a white over-tent shaped like a tepee and illuminate it evenly from the sides. The camera peers down on the work from the apex of the tepee. Additionally, the camera is carefully positioned square with the work. Back to the water-bath for an additional comment: Besides water, mineral oil works nicely and it is washed away with alcohol. You can experiment substituting solvents for the water. You want water-free solvents that evaporate quickly. Don’t use flammable solvents and set-up outdoor. Again the immersion technique is used only as a last resort. Alan Marcus (marginal technical gobbledygook)
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Amy L. Maalmi |
Wow, I would never have thought of that. Very interesting and I imagine from the clients point of view, rather risky. I will definetly try the diffusion and polarizer. And when I am feeling a little more daring, the water ;) Very cool response. Thank you so much.
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