M9 /MM in a Studio

[CaptZoom]

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Thank you for responding with as much detail as you did. Sounds like the experience was well worth the effort thus far. You've got your baseline, no where to go except up:).

 

1-Hot Lights

I hate them. I had to learn to use them at my new job, and just absolutely hate them. I've gotten better with them, but they am really do not replace strobes. I use them at work that I know will end up online, but for work related print stuff I use my Einstiens. If you're looking into getting studio flashes, don't discount the Einstiens. They're potent and mostly (color/temp) consistent. As for got lights, you need a lot of watts to get things kit properly, and watts equal heat (not some thing you should expose art work to unless you have to). And of course speculation highlights are none existent with hot lights. What were your exposure times like?

 

2-Banners

You're going to have an incredibly difficult time keeping the top portion straight/square. You're going up against physics here and physics has a stellar record. Maybe some one will have a remedy, besides laying them on the floor (which doesn't seem like a option for you).

Why doesn't the museum print the design files for the banners? Some one had to create them, and those files should print really well (especially so if the design elements are vectors). You can then concentrate to photographing the insert portions (images and what seems like photographed texts). You can then insert your photos right into the design files and have very nice prints?

 

3-Markers are a great idea and gaffers tape is your friend. If you use light colored tape, you can jot down notes/labels right on it (say the height and angle of the lights, etc). Makes things easier/simpler.

 

4- TheLeica angled viewfinder maybe worth renting/borrowing.

 

Good luck on your second outing.

 

 

 

Yes, certainly. Thank you for asking! Here are the things as they come to mind ...

 

1- The light setup with two 1,000 W lamps and umbrellas did not supply enough light although the museum was quite well lit. We could have not done it w/o the additional light sources at all and I ended up turning them directly onto the panels. We were lucky that they did not reflect at all.

- We shall use strobes for the next outing.

2- The biggest issue though was that these were "advertising-type" banners where the bottom is firm and the top can wiggle. There is just a small pole in the middle that keeps the banner up. Even while looking out for the orientation, I got a couple of distorted shots. Not yet sure what kind of a contraption I need to build to keep the top plane. Maybe something that holds them steady to a back wall. Have played around with clothes hangers a bit to see if that could be made to work.

- The image quality was phenomenal and I have reproduced small parts of the panels from the images in excellent quality. The M9 and APO-Cron really came through in this regard.

3- I had taped paper to the floor to mark the position of each panel, which turned out to be great for orientation. What I did not do due to time constraints was to do the same for the camera tripod. Should have though as someone bumped into it eventually. Next time, I will mark the light positions and tripod with tape and paper as well to ensure nothing is out of position.

4- Focusing the lens turned out to be really hard. First of all because I had to bend down quite a bit and then because it was really hard to find a good spot to test with (given that the camera was fixed). It took a couple of images before I had text on one that I could use to focus. Once that was done, the images turned out to be extremely sharp (see above).

- I used a Sekonic L-478D meter for the measurements and that was a tremendous help. In fact, it was the only way to ensure that the readings were fairly constant across the entire panel. The whole day would not have worked out without it.

- Also used the color checker to ensure accurate reproduction, which turned out to be great. I plan to take it with me from here on out, especially for indoor lighting where you sometimes drift into nasty reds and oranges that need to be corrected in LR5.

- Last, we did not have a chance to visit the location beforehand due to its museum operation during the day and my schedule as well. I wish I had though since we might have been able to make this the real shoot rather than a test.

 

Well, this is a brief rundown of my impressions. I m sure there is a lot more that I could have done better, but it worked out alright for a first experience,

 

I have attached two samples here. Keep in mind that the file size is in the low KBs. The exhibition, organized by the German government, shows the repression of Jewish citizens in Wittenberg, Germany during the Third Reich. It was not easy to take some of the images, as you can probably imagine.

 

Cheers, Chris

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[likalar]

Thanks for the update. Nice to read of your success. Would you be allowed to use a focus aid for the artwork with nothing to focus on? I suggest a dowel with a 5" square bold design card of your choice attached to one end of the dowel.... Have your assistant position the focusing aid at the center of the scene for a brief moment while you check focus. Be sure the backing is a soft and clean material so as not to mar the artwork.

Larry

[jedi996sps]

What a great thread. I came across it today, coincidentally, after i had taken some images of work by an artist friend of mine this morning!, and was pleased that i mostly did what has been talked about. It is the first time i have used my 75cron and with as much subject to camera/flash distance as needed for 6ft x 6ft canvas's, tripod, umbrella and pocket wizards, i am very pleased with the results. Note to myself...buy polarising filter :-)

[hhanebeck]

1-Hot Lights - Einsteins

2-Banners - Difficult

3-Markers Gaffers tape

4- Leica angled viewfinder

 

Hi CaptZoom,

 

Thanks a lot for your feedback and kind words!

 

1. I will definitely use strobes for the second outing and shall ask for Einstein lights at the rental place.

2. With the original artwork, I had asked the exact same question. The answer is simple: it would have taken months to find the right person in the German government to point us to the agency and then some to get the files. Thus, asking for permission was a lot faster and easier.

On the top orientation, I am thinking that we put the banners right to the wall and then use a light-weight metal construction to hold then plane even against the wall. We'd also need a broom stick or something to extend this contraption upwards and out of view, but I'm sure we'll come up with an answer.

3. The tape is great and I have marked everything on it with a sharpie

4. the angled viewfinder is a great idea! I happen to even have one that came with the 90 Macro, but haven't even thought of it. It is a bit harder to use with eyeglasses, which I wear, but clearly beats bending over backwards. : )

 

Cheers, Chris

[hhanebeck]

Thanks for the update. Nice to read of your success. Would you be allowed to use a focus aid for the artwork with nothing to focus on? I suggest a dowel with a 5" square bold design card of your choice attached to one end of the dowel.... Have your assistant position the focusing aid at the center of the scene for a brief moment while you check focus. Be sure the backing is a soft and clean material so as not to mar the artwork.

Larry

 

Hi Larry,

 

That's a great idea! I am sure we can do that. I'll see if I can print off something from the Internet or whether I can purchase one somewhere. We might also try to use the Color Checker for it if we treat the artwork gently. Please let me know, if you already have a solution.

 

Cheers, Chris

[hhanebeck]

What a great thread. I came across it today, coincidentally, after i had taken some images of work by an artist friend of mine this morning!, and was pleased that i mostly did what has been talked about. It is the first time i have used my 75cron and with as much subject to camera/flash distance as needed for 6ft x 6ft canvas's, tripod, umbrella and pocket wizards, i am very pleased with the results. Note to myself...buy polarising filter :-)

 

Hi Ali,

 

Thanks for your very kind feedback! I took a few shots with and then without the Universal Polarizer and found in Lightroom that it made a big difference. It came from Gary and was an excellent suggestion that I had learned here as well. : )

 

Cheers, Chris

[likalar]

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Hi Larry,

 

That's a great idea! I am sure we can do that. I'll see if I can print off something from the Internet or whether I can purchase one somewhere. We might also try to use the Color Checker for it if we treat the artwork gently. Please let me know, if you already have a solution.

 

Cheers, Chris

 

Having the Color Checker as both a focusing aid and color checker is a great idea. For simply focusing, a plain dowel may be all you need. It seems you have everything under great control. It's nice to hear your camera and lens combo are up to the job for your needs.

I know it wouldn't apply to your project, but may be of interest for future copy work: Years ago I was asked to bid on a job to shoot hundreds of unmounted drawings. Speed was a big concern. We designed a vacuum board to hold the artwork flat and vertical. The board, mounted onto a simple wood box was to have hundreds of small holes in it, and the rear of the box had a hose attachment for applying a shop-vac hose. Hold the artwork in place, turn on the vacuum cleaner, shoot the photo. When finished, turn off the vacuum, remove the artwork. We didn't get the assignment, so never built the box. I'm sure it's been done before. The time-savings would be considerable.

Larry

[hhanebeck]

Re: vacuum board

 

Hi Larry,

 

that is a brilliant idea! I guess you would have to calibrate your system finely so it's just the right amount of vacuum suction. Different papers weights, sizes and applications (oil vs. ink, etc.) might require very slight changes. Can imagine that cloth fabrics might look very cool as well when you photograph them on your board! You'd have infinite possibilities to create abstracts ... : )

 

Cheers, Chris

[erl]

The concept of the vacuum board does work. I used it many years ago as a vertical baseboard to make some very large prints in the darkroom. Enlarger head rotated through 90 deg. The long edge of one print, as I recall was about 15ft. A problem was masking of uncovered parts of the board for smaller prints, to preserve the vacuum, but is doable.

[tobey bilek]

flat art probably will not need pola filters. Any art with textures like oil or some acrylic painting or anything not on a perfectly smooth substrate needs them in order not to see the surface texture.

[erl]

Pola filters on lights, in concert with polarizer on lens is good for art work sealed behind glass. The filters on the lights must be aligned independently so that the lens filter works for both.