Beginner Advice re. archiving a herbovarium

[Fungrim]

In the 50's when my mother were in her teens she collected a herbarium, and I'm now thinking about archiving / documenting it.

PXL_20210214_084014702.jpg

• Fungrim
• 14 Feb 2021

PXL_20210214_084128877.jpg

• Fungrim
• 14 Feb 2021

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• Fungrim
• 14 Feb 2021

I'm thinking I'll place each sheet on a matte white background board, then rig a light tent over it. Either use two speedlights, or continuous LED light (ie something like the Godox LSD80). Then rig the camera to shoot down, making sure it is perfectly aligned with the background. My theory is that if I get the setup static and consistent, post-processing will be easy.

I'm hoping the fact that the sheets aren't perfectly flat will add to the images and not be distracting, but that would depend on the lighting I guess.

What do you think about the process and lighting? Any advice on equipment, like light tents or camera tripod / stand? I'm a happy amateur and have never done anything like this, so any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Garry Edwards]

I think that there are a couple of potential setup choices.
If you want pure record shots (the sort of thing that a museum would do) then yes, getting the camera perfectly square to the subject and against a simple plain background is the way to go. But you could also photograph them against a more interesting background, and at a bit of an angle, to create more interesting shots. If you go for the clinical record shot approach you may struggle to get the camera perfectly square from above, but the simple workaround to this is to temporarily fix the subject to a wall, using blu-tack.

In terms of lighting, you really need to show the texture, so you need a single light, low enough to emphasise the texture and the relief, but not low enough to create shadows that are too strong.
And, because of the effect of the inverse square law, the light needs to be fairly distant (so that the far side of the subject gets nearly as much light as the near side) You then place a reflector on the far side, to bounce some light back into the shadow areas. This can be something as simple as a sheet of white paper, A4 size should be about right. You will need to experiment with the reflector distance, because the closer it is, the more effect it will have,

As for the light source, it can be just about anything, because it won't matter for this subject. Personally, I would be very happy with a LED for this purpose, but I wouldn't buy one because you're bound to have a domestic lamp lying around that will do the job perfectly well.

As for using a light tent, just don't.

 

[Fungrim]

Thanks @Garry Edwards! I was thinking that if I do it shooting downwards it'd be easier to swap out the sheets and get them reasonably aligned. And yes, I was thinking of fairly neutral, "clinical", shot first time around.

Just for my understanding, I shouldn't use a light tent because... it would flatten the textures and make the image too one-dimensional?

(I have done some studio portraiture, so if a softbox / umbrella and reflector is the way to go, that's be perfect).

 

[Garry Edwards]

Just for my understanding, I shouldn't use a light tent because... it would flatten the textures and make the image too one-dimensional?

Yes, it would destroy the side-lighting that you need to have. Light tents are for people who see them as a solution for lighting challenges, but in fact they are just products that are sold (or mis-sold) as a solution for lighting challenges, and they're useless.

(I have done some studio portraiture, so if a softbox / umbrella and reflector is the way to go, that's be perfect).

A softbox would be usable from a long way away, but isn't necessary for this. An umbrella would bounce a lot of light around and make it quite difficult to obtain the high-contrast lighting that you need, the best bet would be a standard reflector, if you have one.

 

[Graham W]

Have they all been "Pressed"? If so what about putting them through a flatbed scanner. I suspect that would be a quick and easy way of documenting.

 

[Fungrim]

@Graham W Yes, they're pressed. I don't have access to a scanner (but can get hold of, for example, a strobe and modifiers pretty easily), and also I'd worry they'd become too one-dimensional. I'm hoping that with the right amount of texture and dimensional I can print some of them and frame.