Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T02:05:00.062Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Principles of object photography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2009

Peter G. Dorrell
Affiliation:
University College London
Get access

Summary

This chapter is concerned mainly with the photography of movable artifacts, neither so large that they have to be photographed in situ nor so small that they need the techniques of close-up photography (this is dealt with in the next chapter). For all such objects the same principles of lighting and arrangement apply, and the same sort of information should be recorded by the camera.

The aims should be to record the maximum amount of accurate information, and to avoid distortions of shape, proportion, texture and colour. Ideally, it should be as informative to compare photographs of two objects as to compare the objects themselves, and although this ideal may be unattainable, differences between the photographs should at least reflect real differences between the objects and not just vagaries of the photographer. A further requirement is that photographs of artifacts, and particularly of artifacts which in some way constitute a group or assemblage, or ‘before and after’ photographs of objects undergoing conservation, should be as standardised as possible. If all are lit in approximately the same way, taken from similar viewpoints and against similar backgrounds, the images will be the more easily comparable and the eye will not be distracted by differences that are not related to the objects themselves.

Equipment

Cameras

The advantages and drawbacks of different camera formats are discussed in Chapter 3; they apply equally in object photography as in the field. Largeformat cameras can record finer detail, films can be processed individually, and foreshortening can be prevented by the use of camera-movements.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×