09-16-2007, 03:59 AM
We always think of holding the camera and shooting down, or ways to mount the camera on a tripod--but see if this wouldn't work better:
Set the camera on a stack of two or three books, pointing horizontally, in a well-lighted area. Carefully open the book to be photographed, resting the cover face down on the table, letting the flyleaf and bastard-title pages fall gently open, also. Now the title page is exposed, and both book and camera are stabilized for the shutter to be pressed. On to the next!
I used to do copystand work this way from books I couldn't check out, in places I couldn't carry a copystand into.
Set the camera on a stack of two or three books, pointing horizontally, in a well-lighted area. Carefully open the book to be photographed, resting the cover face down on the table, letting the flyleaf and bastard-title pages fall gently open, also. Now the title page is exposed, and both book and camera are stabilized for the shutter to be pressed. On to the next!
I used to do copystand work this way from books I couldn't check out, in places I couldn't carry a copystand into.