Re: Slightly OT: Photography Archaeological finds

On Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:08:06 -0700, Jack Linthicum wrote:

On Apr 24, 9:22 am, Tom McDonald <kilt...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Apr 23, 11:33 am, Keiron <po...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello all,

Hi!

My first thought is that you shouldn't consider your questions even
slightly off-topic here. Presentation of artifacts is definitely
important to archaeologists, and pretty much every archie has had to
deal with how to provide the best possible images of their finds to
various publics.

I'm currently doing a bit of work photographing archaeological finds
in a museum context. This is my first shot at this type of work so
got some questions:

1)White backgrounds - all the finds have to be shot on white
backgrounds.

Why this requirement? Is it a directive from powers that be? If so,
what is their reasoning? Is it to have a consistent look-and-feel? Or
is there some other reason reason for the requirement? As others have
noted, a white background is not always the best background for every
artifact.

If it is possible, you might want to talk with said powers to see if
there is some flexibility in this requirement. If there isn't, they may
have dealt with these issues before and might know someone nearby who
could better advise you about how to meet their requirements.

If you must shoot on a white background, is some particular value of
white specified? For instance, do you have the option of using a softer
white, like a cream-white rather than a burn-your-eyeballs bright
white?

For this I simply use a *** of white paper but it requires a bit of
touch-up in photoshop to get it perfectly white and this takes some
time. Does anyone use a different technique/material against which to
shoot which requires less computer work? (White balance is set on the
camera)

Might it help to shoot on something white and textured, like a *** or
piece of felt?



2)Profile shots - I currently use white 'Fimo' to support objects in
awkward positions to photograph and then photoshop it out. Are there
any nicer, neater, quicker alternatives.

I've seen images using clear plastic supports, where the supports are
just left in the image.

Is is possible to paint and texture the Fimo to fairly exactly match
the background?



Any other useful shooting tips?

I'm not much of a photographer, All of my shots of archaeological
artifacts have been of the very plain, just-the-facts-ma'am, type,
mostly against white (or other appropriately contrasting material), and
with a inches/centimeters scale.

 If you are working on museum-quality images, I'd suspect getting
ahold of someone who has done this, or does this for a living, would be
the fastest way forward. You might check a museum catalog for a
photography credit, and track that guy/gal/business down.

White velvet?

I was thinking there might mbe glare issues even in low light, but like
felt will investigate.

.

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