Photographing magazines

I have some news magazines from the 30's. They are a little fragile and I don't want to scan them with a flatbed scanner for fear of breaking the spine. Instead I have decided to photograph them. I have a K100D with the Pentax DA 18-55.

As a bit of a newbie to digital SLR photography I wondered if there are any tips people would like to share abouit how to get the best shots and tips in post processing. What would yyou recommend for a support? What about lighting? How should the magazine be supported?

In the tests I have done, there seems to be three main issues

1) Lighting. When I view the photos later I see shadows that were not apparent when taking the shots, light from the window etc. What artificial light should I use, a flash seems too bright giving off reflections.
2) Getting the camera absolutely level, if I don't then I need to post process to make the image 'square' (ie solve 'perspective' issues)
3) The pages bend near the spine and so the text is not straight, is there any software that can compensate for this?

Richard

Richard whether you use a scanner or a camera you really need to have the 'artwork' flat to achieve any kind of professional result. Pentax used to make a device called a Copipod which was designed specifically for this task (see my post in the pentax eqipment thread), these are very rare however. Many enlarger heads are attched to the column by a 3/8 tripod screw so with an adaptor you can attach your camera and you have a copy stand. Kaiser used to (may still do) make Copy Stands. As far as lighting is concerned 1 light source at 45 degrees will do, two (one at each side) even better. You might try laying a piece of picture frame glass over the page to keep it flat.

The other option is propping the magazine up and trying to align the camera but you will struggle to get the sensor plane parallel to the artwork which is probably bending in 3 directions at once

Your lighting issue seems to have been tackled that leaves #2, Two suggestions; use a bulls-eye level on the rear LCD (assuming you're shooting from above) or if that doesn't strike you as proper maybe sit the level on a sheet of glass (or anything flat and stiff) and hold it against the filter thread of the lens?

#3 There are ways to negate the distortion due to the bend of the pages at the spine however no methods that I can think of are altogether straight forward.

Cheers,

I've done a fair bit of this sort of work and once it's set up it's not too much of a chore. Basically, the magazine page needs to be flat on a level surface and the camera back parallel to it. I achieve this by placing the lenshood flat against the page and then raising the tripod column so it stays straight. Then check the viewfinder carefully for precise alignment.

A 50mm macro lens is very useful in that straight edges remain straight and the focusing distance is not too great.

Lighting is usually by one very large window, but 2 lights at 45 degrees works well.

Focusing is manual and aperture at an optimum f8 or so.

If the paper is white, then in Photoshop the white point can be set in Levels with a very high degree of consistency resulting.

Careful and consistent working should deliver excellent results.

Someone is selling a Copipod as referred to above with a BIN price of £19.99

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Asahi-Pentax-COPIPOD_W0QQitemZ130156770956QQihZ003QQcatego...

Dont be tempted to use autofocus with a copipod. The focussing motor cant raise the weight of the camera. Oh and a ref finder comes in handy!

so as not to confuse the issue, the above advice should work for you, but if you have trouble with glare (shiny pages for example) and burnt out highlights, I will help you with that also....hint: requires polarizers, but cross that bridge if you need to later.

I've got a copy stand made out of a Gnome enlarger stand and a copy arm I got for £4 odd years ago from a British company called 'Gamer' - now defunct as usual- and I got my first 'good' enlarger from them, a Gamer Universal 6x9 cms to 35mm. I use two 100watt household bulbs in reflectors I got for £3 at the camera club annual auction, or two Braun Hobby flashes at 45 degrees to the paper.

Way to go , Peter.

I'm really kicking myself now because, six months ago, I saw a Kaiser copy stand complete with 2 photoflood holders on gooseneck arms in a skip outside a Glasgow college - didn't have the brass neck to climb in and get it.

A pal fished 2 Leitz enlargers complete with lenses from a skip - one perfect and the other with a slight dent it got when it was thrown in the skip. University of Strathclyde hang your head in shame at this outrageous waste of public money.