Camera Scanning Workshop in New Orleans

Richard Anderson and I will be doing a camera scanning workshop in New Orleans on the 28th of April (doors at 6:00 pm, program at 6:30). We will present techniques for creating reproduction-quality scans from film and negatives using a digital camera and inexpensive copy hardware.  The program is free, but space is limited, so sign up early if you are interested.

Sponsors
This program is brought to you by ASMP, the New Orleans Photo Alliance, The US Library of Congress’s NDIIPP program, and Microsoft.

Full announcement after the jump

Film Scanning with a Digital Camera

Photographers with large collections of film-based images have been searching for ways to quickly and affordably create digital scans of their image collections. Traditional desktop scanners work slowly, and scanning services are frequently too expensive. This evening workshop will present an affordable and rapid method for creating digital scans from your film by using a digital camera.The camera scanning technique can create reproduction-quality scans of film quickly and easily. The film is photographed in the same way that duplicate slides used to be made (and can be done with some of the same hardware).  Once the film has been copied with the digital camera, you can use current image editing techniques to make color and tonal corrections to the images – as single images, or in bulk.

The Camera Scanning techniques work particularly well for black and white negatives, and for color transparencies.  Color negatives can also be scanned, but the color-correction process is more difficult and time consuming.  Come learn about this exciting new way to unlock the value of – and to help preserve – your valuable film library.

Both Peter Krogh and Richard Anderson have used these techniques to digitize collections that number in the tens of thousands of images.

The advantages of Camera Scanning include:
• The process can be done on-site, without having to ship out original film
• It’s easy to train interns or assistants to do the work
• Lower cost of digital storage, compared to traditional scans
• Much faster throughput than traditional scanning
• Much lower total cost than traditional scanning
• You can probably use your existing digital camera to do the work

The program will cover:
• A comparison of the output quality of Camera Scans and traditional scans
• An overview of camera scanning hardware
• How to acquire or build your own copy rig
• Workflow tips
• Using Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw for image finishing
• Storage and catalog techniques

The Presenters
Richard Anderson is the director of the dpBestflow project, an ASMP initiative sponsored by the Library of Congress. He is also the co-author of the Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow Handbook (Focal Press, 2009). Richard is a commercial photographer working in Baltimore.

Peter Krogh is the senior project manager for the dpBestflow project, and author of The DAM Book, Digital Asset Management for Photographers. He speaks worldwide on digital photography practices, and works as a commercial photographer in the Washington DC area.

Sponsors
This program is brought to you by ASMP, the New Orleans Photo Alliance, The US Library of Congress’s NDIIPP program, and Microsoft.