Copying / Preserving Old Photos
By David M. Scott, Membership Secretary, Clan Scott Society
ClanScott@aol.com
Before I start giving my opinions on this subject, let me present my relevant credentials: I was formerly a freelance photographer accomplished enough to win first place in a national contest sponsored by Nikon. As operations manager of an in-house graphic arts operation, I oversaw a photo shop with a compete darkroom, studio, and two photographers and learned a great deal about color photography and graphic arts pre-press camera work. Now, I administer high-tech computer research.
Copying old photographs for Archival purposes
Copying old photos for archival purposes is not like making holiday snapshots. You can do this yourself if you don't trust someone else to do the work properly. If you live in a medium size town, there is a good chance there is a studio/lab that specializes in black & white work. Ask if they also do copy work. (Pretty good chance they do.) Do not take your treasured photos to a place that does quick printing or mainly color work. Ask if they do ARCHIVAL photography. If they do not know what you are talking about, look for someone else.
Doing it yourself - depending on the condition of the photo, you may be able to do an acceptable job yourself. For a small (snapshot size) photo. All you need is two evenly matched light sources. For more precision work, you might wish to invest in a four light copy stand. Both lights should be at a 45 degree angle to the surface of the photo to eliminate glare. Table lamps will work in a pinch. If necessary, piece of clean, clear glass larger than the photo may be used to hold the flat. (The heat of the lights may cause the photograph to curl.) Turn off all other lights and close drapes to eliminate other light sources that may cause uneven lighting or glare. Use a fine grain (slow speed) black and white film. There are several on the market. Ilford and Kodak make the best.
Use an single lens reflex adjustable camera (the type where you are actually seeing the subject through the camera lens - not an adjacent viewing lens and where you set the shutter speed in fractions of a second and the aperture in f-stops). get as close as you can to the photo and fill up the frame with the image. Shoot several photos at half f-stop intervals to insure optimum exposure and contrast. Long exposures are very likely. The film speed will be slow and you don't want too much heat or lights to destroy the original photo. Get a tripod, copy stand, or some other method to steady the camera rock-solid.
You do not want to expose the photos to too much heat or bright lights for a extended time. The heat can cause the photograph to curl and both heat and light can accelerate the aging of the print. The heat will get to you, too. I suggest a cool, well ventilated room for the sake of both you and the original photo.
That's the easy part. The processing and printing are the critical part. The film should be processed in a fine grain developer according to manufacturer's instructions. Special attention should be made for best detail in shadows. Do not push-process the film (underexpose and over develop). This will give you faster effective film speed but not good contrast and detail. Each generation (copy) of a photo will loose some detail and you are adding two generations (the film and the print). Choose the best negative for the print - good exposure and contrast.
Print on rag (fiber) paper. Do not use resin-coated (RC) paper. Resin-coated paper is used by many photo labs because it takes less time to wash and dry but it has not been proven to be archival. Since the coating is like plastic, I suspect it will break down with light and/or time. Rag paper does not have a coating. If you want a shiny surface, you will have to ferrotype it - this means drying it face down on a polished surface. Photo labs have drum ferrotype dryers.
Proper print processing is a must for archival photos. The chemicals should be fresh and the proper chemicals for the paper. The paper must be properly fixed AND washed. Special test kits exist to test a white area of the print to make sure all the hypo (fixer) has been removed. Improper fixing and washing will cause a photo to fade or turn black with time. When selecting the paper, be sure to select a low contrast grade - grade 2 or 3. You won't need a lot of contrast because you will want shadow detail but you need some to keep it from looking muddy.
If you are really serious about long life for the photo, you should tone the photo. Several toners may be used. Gold toner is probably the best but is costly. More commonly used is a selenium toner which encapsulates the silver in the image so it will not "rust". Sepia toner could also be used. Be careful, these toners are dangerous - more so than ordinary photo chemicals - and skin contact should be limited. Use rubber gloves for protection. These chemicals and the exhausted fixer should be disposed of properly - they contain heavy metals that will cause problems with your local waste treatment plant.
Storage/Display
Once printed, archival photos should not be handled with bare hands. Your photo shop carries white cotton gloves. Not only should these be used when handling the negatives to prevent damage, but they should be used to handle the prints. Acids and soil from your hands will eventually destroy the photo. Photos should be stored in acid-free boxes or displayed in acid free-mounts. A photo on display should have ultra-violet screening glass in front of it, too. Photos should be stored in a dark, dry, cool place for long life. (Yep, if you want to keep it a long time, you can't look at it!).
Professional Archival Reproductions
If you wish to have a professional do this for you, you will probably end up with a better product - especially if you select a professional who specializes in archival photography. Ask questions about how the photo is to copied and printed. If you want archival quality, you should expect to pay for it. It is generally printed by hand and extra care is taken with the product.
The professional should be using at least a 35mm camera with a close-up lens designed for closeup work, or extension tubes with a "normal" lens, or a bellows attachment with a "normal" lens. Lenses designed for close-up work are called macro lenses by most manufacturers (Nikon calls their's micro lenses.) The photographer should not be using "close up filters" since these result in inferior images. Better professionals will use a medium format (2.25x2.25 inch or 6x7cm film size) cameras to get a bigger image. A bigger image means better contrast and detail in the printing. Better optics and a larger film format will result in noticeably better reproductions.
When dealing with a professional, you should agree UP FRONT who is to own the negatives. Courts have ruled that the negatives are "tools" of the trade, an intermediary step in producing a product. The default will be that the photographer retains rights to these negatives. They are the means of production so he can obtain repeat business. (Do you own a dressmaker's pattern if it is custom made for you? Do you own a printer's plates if he prints a book for you? No! Not unless they agree up front to turn them over to you!) If you want to keep the negatives (rather than trust them to the photographers filing & storage), you should arrange that before you allow work to begin. Prices quoted for work with the negatives retained by the customer should rightfully be higher. It is best agree to *all* the terms up front..
Permanence of Other Mediums
Any medium that requires a device (other than your eyes and sunlight) may not be truly archival because the device may no longer be available for viewing at some future date. (If the sun is not available, the whole exercise is moot!) In addition, some media are unstable. Color photographs by their very chemistry are not stable. Some will fade within a couple of years (paper type, process methods, and storage all play a part). *All* color photos will fade! Color slides are more permanent than prints, but will fade with time and light (of the projector, for instance) are subject to fungus, scratches, fumes, etc. that will ruin them. Video tape and other magnetic media will eventually loose the magnetic code due to ambient magnetic fields. CD-ROM and laser disks seem to be fairly permanent, but the technology to "decode" the images from the disk is ever-changing and we haven't had CD-ROM disks long enough to *really* know how permanent they are. Black and White silver-halide photography seems to be the most permanent method of archiving images other than paintings. All others either haven't had the test of time are have been proven to be too unstable. If you want any of your family photos to last longer than you do, have them copied and archival printed. Your family snapshots, wedding photos, even old black and white photos (especially those produced during WWII when there were chemical shortages and processing not as good) are all candidates. Perhaps your professional will give you a group rate!
David M. Scott
Membership Secretary
Clan Scott Society
ClanScott@aol.com
The Preservation Place
Preserve Photos
Preserve Newspaper Clippings
Preserve DocumentsThe Genealogy Forum - Main Page
Beginners' Center | Internet Center | Message Boards
Surname Center | Reunion Center | File Library
Genealogy Forum News
Shop With Us
Genealogy Forum.com is a production of
Golden Gate Services, Inc. of Armada, Michigan.
© 1998 - 2004 All Rights Reserved. Brenda Jean Bova, President.
The Genealogy Forum is a member of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society.
Tree logo provided by MeadPond Designs and is the trademark of GenealogyForum.com.© 2004 Some graphics By Carol, All Rights Reserved
If you have any questions or comments,
please contact GenealogyForum@aol.com
