Lighting for copy photography

David Seubert <seubert [at] library__ucsb__edu> writes

>We just inherited a "new" copy stand from another department.
>Patrons use the stand to photograph/videotape items from our
>collections: book covers, photographs, manuscripts etc. It currently
>has four 150 watt Sylvania floodlights in it. This seems excessive

Another note regarding the selection of lights for copy work.  As I
mentioned in the last message, I like strobes.  But the Morris and
Panasonic strobes do not have modeling lights, which would help you
"see what you get." If we need to see what we're getting, we switch
to photofloods.  Today we were reminded why we don't like those
nasty hot things.  As Andrew Robb and I set up a shot to illustrate
the surface qualities of a streaky photograph, the photograph curled
before our eyes.

We use some halogen lamps with integrated infrared filtration for
some purposes, but even these lamps radiate enough heat to warm the
subject.

We're now looking for a simple modeling lamp to use in conjunction
with our Morris strobes...

Connie McCabe (and Andrew Robb)
National Gallery of Art, Washington

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:81
                  Distributed: Tuesday, April 20, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-12-81-007
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