Taking pictures.....what would the best way to photograph them

[kennyseddon]

I have two large oval photos of my great grandparents in frames, what would the best way to photograph them so I can add them to my tree?
Thanks Chris.

[KGarrad]

If possible, remove the photos from the frames, then scan them.

If you are going to photograph the photos, don't use flash!
And ideally have the photo on a flat bed, with the camera mounted directly above on a tripod, focusing downwards.

See: http://www.subchaser.org/photographing-documents

[kennyseddon]

Thanks for info, unfortunately the photos seem to be stuck onto card in the frame , they are also nearly 3ft x 2ft so I don't think I scanning is an option.I'll try what you suggested with no flash
Thanks Chris.

[StanleysChesterton]

If you can't get them out of the frame, and have tried to photograph them but are getting reflections back from the glass then place them 'slightly off from opposite' a good mirror and take a photo of the mirror from an angle.  Do that in a well lit room without direct sunlight.

Should get away with it.

[kennyseddon]

Thanks Stan,

[Ian999]

Photographing old prints in glass frames is difficult. I have done quite a few for clients as reproductions to share with family members. The very worst is when the oval print is covered by an oval convex bowl of glass  -- this was in fashion for a time.

The keys are:
Control of movement ie camera shake – so use a tripod;
Control of sharpness  -- use a camera with a proper focusing mechanism;
Control of lighting and reflections.

My setup is to hang the picture on a wall and shim the back until it is hanging perfectly vertical.

Place two light boxes at 45 degrees to the pic. Hang a sheet of linear polarizing film over each light box.

Put the camera on a tripod and set it up exactly at 90 degrees to the pic. Focus. Place a polarizing filter on the lens and rotate that filter until reflections are minimized.
If necessary adjust the light boxes until there are no reflections.
(You did remember to clean the glass??).

Shoot.

This is the way to do it properly and you would probably need to go to a professional photographer, but for just shooting thumbnails for adding to a tree you could try simplifying any of the steps.
The polarizing filter is probably the most important step.

[bugbear]

In the computer age, there is another way to control reflections.

Consider the picture to be a mirror (the trickiest possible reflector) and set up a feature less object (such as a notice board, or a white sheet hung up).

Now arrange the "mirror" so that the camera sees the featureless object; to do this the camera must be slightly off axis in one direction, and the featureless object must be off axis in the other direction.

You will now GET a reflection, but a reflection with no features.

Follow Ian's instructions about focus and tripod (although you could use flash, since it will be not reflect back to your off-axis camera). You might also want to use a fairly long lens (say 80mm in old-fashioned 35mm speak) to reduce barrel distortion.

You will get a lovely image, except it wlll have perspective distortion, since your camera is off axis.

Using Gimp or Photoshop to correct this, and you're done.

 BugBear

[Ian999]

If I understand Bugbear correctly, he suggests angling the picture a bit so that any reflection goes to the side of the camera. Then use transform or something similar in PS.

That could work well and is probably sufficient for Chris’ purposes.

However I would be loathe to use that technique for shooting large detailed images for reproduction into framed heirloom pieces.

Obviously it would not work too well with the convex bowls I mentioned. Even with “flat” glass, old pieces often have ripples in the glass, the original photo is rarely flat and will reflect light in different ways. Also the back of the glass is never clean due to dust, outgassing from the photo and mounting materials, so the further off axis you go the lower the contrast in the final image.

There is the other factor that after I explain the reason I am using all this fancy approach, the client is much more receptive to my level of fees!

[bugbear]

Oh, my way isn't as good as Ian's.

But it's way cheaper. 

And (perhaps) good enough for some purposes.

I've attached some quick demonstration of concept images, using a framed print (although I didn't rig a featureless target for this one, you can see my striped wallpaper!). I also used a wide lens with calibrated post correction, courtesy of Hugin. Using a longer lens is easier...

First photo is straight on with flash (!!!)

 BugBear