[pure-silver] Re: duplicate info

In my opinion, Eric has given very good and detailed advice.

lee\c



At 10:04 AM 6/25/2005, you wrote:
Mark, I would not say a last resort for glass. One of my first jobs may years ago was making copy negs of small to 8x10 sized prints. We had set up a black felt back picture frame with glass to hold our art work. We also used ( as Jeff suggested) a black board cut to just the size of the lens. The only white any where close was the writing on the lens. The lens hood normally took care of that problem. A copy light set up of 4 lights is a good place to start, and a meter used at the 4 corners and middle helps assure even lighting. And in the set up with glass dust is not always your enemy. Some older small picture are less than sharp and the dust can be used to focus your shot. You just need to make sure to blow it away before shooting or you will need to do a little extra work. It also helps to use a cloth covered cable release as opposed to a plastice covered one as they don?t shine when lit; at least not as bad.

I find that the polarized lighting works great with colored art work but I would only recommend that lighting style for B&W copy work as a last resort or at the very least, a distant alternative. The polarized screens when last I bought some, where close to $50 a piece for 16? squares. These worked great for the many many paintings that I photographed while making a living in Taos, NM for the art crowd. And as long as you don?t melt them, they will give you years of controlled lighting. I used two 500 watt lights and when needed, a diffusion material to soften the light and the hide texture in the surface of the original.

Marc, I wouldn?t get too carried away with perfectly matched angles of your camera lens and art work either. While it is best, this is a copy and I find that a small level and a ruler or tape measure will give you all you need. There are two types of set up as far as I look at it; one is camera up on a stand or tripod shooting down and 2) camera on stand or tripod shooting at work on a wall or easel.


With all the talk about shooting it, we have all failed to mention printing it. Are you trying to make it look the same? Paper and developer will need to be considered. For years I used extralure to match some of the older photocards that were brought to me. David Lewis, a bromoilist in Canada, was having a graded paper made that is really a nice flat surface. It is just a graded paper however but prints very nice.

What can you expect? You should be able to match or exceed the quality of the original print. Have fun.


Eric Neilsen Photography
4101 Commerce Street, Suite 9
Dallas, TX 75226
214-827-8301
http://ericneilsenphotography.com

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From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of mark
Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2005 7:19 AM
To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: duplicate info

Eric

I agree 100% about glass. It should be a last resort. It is far too hard to control and introduces more problems than it cures.

I believe you are also correct about the color/temp of the light. That and the fact that when working in a controlled enviroment you can control all aspects of the shoot.
Stains can be hard to deal with however a overall yellowing of the original can be offset with a blue filter. Shoot both ways and bracket.

Lights on a copy stand at around 45 deg are ideal. However if you haven't done a great deal of this they can be hard to control and when poorly controlled highlight the flaws of the original and introduce glare onto the subjects surface. Sheets of polarizing material are very expensive and I always thought on polarizer on the lense tended to make the image duller. I used to use a 4 light setup and would often find variations between bulbs, even those of the same age. The flatness of the light over the original is very important and can't be judged effectively by eyesight. One should meter the corners and the center.

Mark Carney
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:eric@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>Eric Neilsen Photography
To: <mailto:pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 8:37 PM
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: duplicate info

Marc and Mark, Glass? Sure it is great if you use a very controlled environment. Terrible if you screw up. Does the photo have stains? A slight color? Pay close attention as your eye will let a bit of a yellow or orange color go, but your film will capture it and turn your white to gray and you will lose detail in the highlights as you try and make a ?new white?. It is great to use a black felt background. Why? It simply allows you to shot and SEE just a speck of detail in your shadow values and then allows you to adjust your development to place your high lights. Is it a glossy paper or a textured surface? Cracks or smooth? This can help you to determine the type of lighting that will work. Outdoors in open shade can be good, but it can also lead to slightly blue light? That might be OK, unless there is a faded blue pen or stain.


Treat it as a science of photography; light has color and quality, use both for you.
Just my two cents,


Eric Neilsen Photography
4101 Commerce Street
Suite 9
Dallas, TX 75226
http://e.neilsen.home.att.net
http://ericneilsenphotography.com


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From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of mark
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 11:08 AM
To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: duplicate info

Marc

The photo and the camera need to be perfectly aligned.
I would use a waist level viewer.
The magnet idea is great, I used to use it all the time.
You want soft diffuse light. Outdoors in open shade is good. It would probably be more convienent to work indoors though. Try working in an area ( a small room) with white walls and ceilings and bouncing several lights into them away from the photo. When done right this produces a controllable and gentle light.
I would NEVER use glass over the photo. Far too many problems.
I would meter the 4 corners of the print and the center. This will allow you to tweak the lights to get an even coverage of the photo. Small differences from one to the other are fine.
I would consider using the 80mm lens and shoot the image just alittle fat. If you do use a 50mm then watch for distortion. If you use an extension tube you must increase your exposure so a bit of bracketing would be a good idea.
I would lock the mirror up and use a cable release.
Lastly I would leave the copy setup in place until I proofed the negatives or shoot a polaroid. In fact polaroid positive/negative B+W film can produce an excellent copy neg. I guess it is still made?

Good luck

Mark Carney
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:marc.peeters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>Marc Peeters
To: <mailto:pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 3:49 PM
Subject: [pure-silver] duplicate info

Subject: duplicate info

I need some information for what I can expect for the next job.
At this moment it is to hot here in Belgium for going into ma darkroom. We have about 30°C during the day which mean in my darkroom 6-7° more.
But a friend of the family asked me to make a new picture for his grandfather. The picture was made in the year 35. There is no negative so I need to make a new one. Dimensions of the pictures are 50cm x 70 cm (+- 20 x 26). He asked me to make a new picture with the same size.
I'm planning to make a new negative with my 6x6 Hasselblad. Which lens can I use for the best result 50 - 80 ore 150 ?? Is it better to use it with rings (I have 10 and 21). Do I need to put a glass on the picture before I make a new negative or gives this to much reflections ??
I usually use T-max 100, is this OK or is there something better for these things ??

And what can I expect from the general result ?? Will it have the same sharpness or much less ??

Thanks a lot
Marc
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