Advice on Using Large Format Camera To Photograph A Print

[analog65]

Hi, I would like to photograph some 8x10 silver gelatin prints with my 8x10 view camera for the purpose of making 8x10 negatives.

Any advice/tips on what type of paper (e.g., glossy, matte, etc.) is best suited for doing this?

Thank you.

 

[Bob S]

45° crosslighting with pola foils on the lights and a polarizing filter on the lens. All aligned to the same axis of polarization. Glossy or semi gloss will,preserve the maximum detail.

 

[analog65]

Thanks Bob. I didn't think about the polarizing filter on the camera lens. Is this to address any reflections that may occur? I don't own a polarizer, so I want to make sure I understand before buying anything.

Thank you.

45° crosslighting with pola foils on the lights and a polarizing filter on the lens. All aligned to the same axis of polarization. Glossy or semi gloss will,preserve the maximum detail.

 

[btaylor]

Yes, this technique handles all the reflection issues. I had to photograph a bunch of old family photos and this set up handles it. Get polarizing gels for the two lights and a polarizer filter for your camera.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Bob's right on, as usual, in his advice for minimizing reflections. I used to copy art works for museum catalogues and this was standard procedure (as was including a grey scale and color chips with the first transparency of the run for the printer to calibrate to, and making sure the entire shoot was on one batch number of film. For really reflective surfaces, I sometimes had to position the camera to one side and use shift to ensure my reflection was not in the picture!

Using angle gauges to make sure the copy work and the camera back were parallel and then checking on the gridded ground glass is important too. For photographs, a glossy surface has the greatest contrast range and allows the most information to get onto the negative. The problem with reproducing black-and-white photos is nailing the contrast and matching the contrast curves of the materials used so that the copy print ends up with the same contrast and distribution of tones as the original. There used to be straight-line copy film for this, but no longer. Use a slow film with a long straight-line (TMX is what I'd probably go with first now) and do a bunch of development-time tests to get the exposure and optimal development time down. Don't do this independently of how you want to print the negative, since you'll need to match your exposure/development to your output methods and materials.

Best of luck,

Doremus

 

[Bob S]

By 45° lighting, the lights are positioned 45° to the copy board. The left light points to the right edge of the print and the right light points to the left edge. If both lights point to the center you will not have even lighting across the print.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

By 45° lighting, the lights are positioned 45° to the copy board. The left light points to the right edge of the print and the right light points to the left edge. If both lights point to the center you will not have even lighting across the print.

This is one of the rare times an incident meter comes in handy; to check the evenness of the lighting across the entire area of the copy work. You can do it with a grey card and a spotmeter too, but the incident meter is just a lot less fiddly in this case. For large artworks I used to use four hot photofloods, two on each side; had to be careful about the temperature on the work too. Flash units with modeling lights and a good flash meter replaced all that hot stuff years ago. Hot lights, tungsten Ektachrome and lots of testing for exposure first was what I did. Digital is a lot easier for some stuff...

 

[mrosenlof]

I wonder if you might want to use your print as a paper "negative" (of course it's probably a positive) and contact print onto the 8x10 film.

Just a thought...

 

[Bob S]

I wonder if you might want to use your print as a paper "negative" (of course it's probably a positive) and contact print onto the 8x10 film.

Just a thought...

That would also “print” any texture onto the copy, which, if enlarged, would increase the texture.

 

[ic-racer]

Seems like an odd thing to do. Usually one would print the negative onto positive film rather than paper to make an 8x10 negative.