Using A Glass Sheet To Flatten Snapshots To Photograph Them

If this material is not available a smooth board or one quarter inch thick plate glass will do.

Using a glass sheet to flatten snapshots to photograph them.

Shooting through glass like wi ndows is one of the biggest challenges in photography. The papers are probably not archival but you aren t using them for storage so short time use should not be a problem. A sheet of one half inch thick plexiglas cut to an appropriate size and with smoothed edges to make it safer to handle may be used to provide both a smooth flat surface and heavy weight. Flattening photographs is a delicate process to prevent as you so rightly point out cracking the emulsion.

The emulsion side of the photos can become sticky if damp. Kobeissi adds different elements to the sheet of glass to. I m sure you ve tried at least once to shoot through a shop window a car or train window a museum diorama or a glass aquarium or maybe even saw something nice on the other side of a home s window and photographed it only to be disappointed when the results came out. The steam helps to smooth out the photo.

In this article i will show you how photograph a glass on both white and black backgrounds with minimal equipment and a fairly simple lighting setup. The sheet should be wide enough to cover the area right behind the glass. This creates a white glowing outline that looks really beautiful. Silicone paper available at art supply and archival supply stores is the best to use but wax paper or parchment paper are acceptable substitutes.

To get the same shot but on a black background add a sheet of black paper right behind the glass. But also narrow enough to keep the edges of your light source visible. You do need a print dryer to get them flat again although pressing them under weights bone dry might improve them a little. Another way to flatten a newer photograph is to hang the photo from a line and place a pot of boiling water beneath it.

The safest way to add moisture to paper or fiber based photographs as compared to modern resin coated photographic papers is to leave it for a few hours in a tightly closed space with a source of humidity. But putting them wet in contact with anything like a pile of books will mean you end up with the photos emulsion firmly glued to whatever it touched. She shares five different creative hacks using glass from a simple picture frame. She has been writing professionally since 2001 and her work has appeared in magazines such as senior living and mature lifestyles she is working on a bachelor of arts at state college of florida with a major in mass communications.

Place the photograph in between paper towels with a book on top to flatten.