Re: Slightly OT: Photography Archaeological finds

Keiron wrote:
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. For this I simply use a sheet 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)
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. Any other useful shooting tips?

White is a bad background as there is white in object. The old blue screen and the current green screen are because NOTHING has that color green. With a white background there is always white in what you are photographing. With green screen you can select by color for what to replace with pure white with much less hassle.

So first go green screen. If that is not available use the most garish color you can find and have a couple different garish colors. You are looking for one not found in nature in all but the rarest materials and that is why you have at least two garish colors because Murphy's Law will apply.

The next thing to keep in mind is that you ARE going to ALWAYS have to process something on the computer. If this were 30 or more years ago you would be doing the same things in a darkroom with chemicals and wasted print paper and no do overs. Count your blessings.

I presume you know you should be able to avoid the problem even using white with multiple lights.

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Fri Apr 24 08:29:05 EDT 2009
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