Photographing Large Posters

<p>A client has recently asked me to photograph about 30 large vintage posters as part of another project. The posters are up to 48" tall and various widths, none exceeding 48". The resulting images are to be published in a book. I am told that the client will "hang" the posters one at a time on the wall in an up-scale garage. There is no glass over the the posters.<br>

I am flying to the location and will not be traveling with lighting gear. The client will pay for any equipment that must be rented, but I would like to keep it simple. I have experience with studio lighting, but the gear I use is too large for this project.<br>

I am looking for ideas on achieving even lighting with a minimum of gear. Thanks.</p>

<p>Two lights, of almost any kind, at 45deg angles to the surface to prevent glare. And a tripod to ensure the camera is square with the poster and a custom white balance to accommodate what ever you're using for lights.</p>

<p>The lights don't have to be very bright, you can use a long shutter speed. Stop down to the sweet spot of what ever lens you're using (i.e., f/8-11) to avoid diffraction.</p>

<p>Shoot tethered using live view if you can. You can get much sharper focus with live view on a laptop screen than on the camera LCD.</p>

<p><Chas><br /><br /></p>

<p>OK. Got it. But, what about getting even exposure from top to bottom over a 48" length?</p>

<p>Get your lights far enough back that the poster is evenly illuminated top to bottom. Aim the left light at the right side and the right light at the left side. Your lights need to be powerful enough to cover the subject. Reflector flood lamps in clip-on reflectors are an old standby, but will make your shooting space very warm very quickly.</p>

<p>If the posters are all rectangular, consider turning them on their side and shooting everything in portrait orientation. That will make lighting the top and bottom easier.</p>

<p>Avoid fluorescent lamps if possible, they will make color matching more difficult in post processing. Shoot a gray card for every poster, so you can adjust white balance in post processing.</p>

<p><Chas><br /><br /></p>

<p>Any small space, like most garages, complicates things. At the size you are talking about, you may need to have two lights on each side (nornal reflector strobes)--personally, I would also put polarizing filters on them (gotten from most theatrical lighting/grip rental places). I find it has always helped minimize issues.</p>

<p>Lighting in small spaces requires a lot of attention to flagging off light that can bounce and reflect off surfaces around the room. Low ceilings and a short throw cause a lot of issues and can even cause your tripod and camera to reflect specular highlights onto your subject--if you have to use a wider than normal (for this type of work) lens, you will have even more issues to deal with. Black fabric around the subject to deaden the spill and maybe around the camera position to limit blow back or window light from behind the camera and flags to block off stray light can be critical, especially in a white or painted (strong color) room might be critical. Unless the room is black or dark grey,or abnormally large and vacuous for a garage, expect issues.</p>

<p>Use four lights, each one pointed at the diagonally <strong>opposite</strong> corner of the poster. Distance is the key to getting even lighting, and you need to get the lights as far from the artwork as possible while keeping that 45 degree (or thereabouts) angle. You also need to make sure that the posters are hung as flat as possible, since any wrinkles will glare like crazy. In fact flattening them behind glass may be a better bet than not. It's fairly easy to control the reflection off flat glass, but not so easy with a rolling or creased glossy surface.</p>

<p>Thanks, John and Charles. All true. I know the garage is large and tall. Probably 18 foot ceiling. It is "white", but of course there are other objects in the room.<br>

Appreciate your thoughts.</p>

<p>Not sure how they're doing this in the printing business today but in the old days you would simply throw each of these onto a process camera and shoot it. A process camera is a gigantic view camera -- a 4x5 can be four feet by five feet, not inches. The easel that holds the art to be photographed has a vacuum to hold the artwork perfectly flat. The lights are permanently arranged so that there is perfectly even lighting and no glare whatsoever. In pre-digital days the back end of the camera held an equally large negative, which was used to produce printing plates. Now that the world is digital, not sure if these giants still exist (with a digital back). But there is obviously stilll a need to copy large artwork. I would hate to suggest that you pass up work, but your client really doesn't know what he's doing. This is a graphic arts job that should be done by the book publsher's printer, not a photography job for a photographer.</p>