Hello all,
What setup and technique would you use to photograph historic documents?
I've been using Google and making my own guesses on this, but I thought I'd check to see what you all might advise.
I work in the publishing arm of a library and archive, and we like to use high-quality, high-resolution scans or photos when we publish images of historic documents. When we use images from other repositories, we usually just pay to have the repository make and send the images. BUT, there are a few repositories who don't do this (too small, I'm guessing) or who charge a LOT of money for their images. So this summer I will be traveling to the midwestern United States to a couple of these repositories to photograph some of these documents (the photographs are secondary--the trip is actually for research purposes, but as long as I'm out there, I might as well get these photos too).
Tripods are allowed. I think I recall that flashes or other added lighting is not allowed. The documents obviously are not allowed to leave the repository. They will likely be flat on a table. Some will be a bit faded (nearly 200 years old).
I will be taking my D810 and tripod and several lenses. The top arm of my tripod can become a horizontal slider. I envision putting my D810 on the slider, pointing straight down at the document--preferably high up so as not to create shadows on the documents. I may take some white cards.
Have any of you done this sort of thing before? What lens would you use? Any suggestions for settings or technique?
(We mostly scan images from our archive, but we do occasionally make photographs of documents or other items that are not scannable. Our photographer here uses a Hasselblad on a slider affixed to a pole that goes floor to ceiling--super stable. And the Hassy is one that takes four images--one in each color channel--and then blends them into one...the detail is incredible. Unfortunately, I don't get to take the Hasselblad with me.)