OT: Photography Help

[thecatspajamas]

Jeff,

I am by no means a professional photographer, but in my experience, the biggest difficulties with photographing photos, magazines or other flat items are 1) glare from lights and 2) keeping the item flat while keeping the camera at 90 degrees to the item. A light box helps a lot with #1, but presents even more difficulties for #2 unless it is large and specifically made to deal with flat items. Placing a card on a stand is one thing, but getting a curled 8x10 photo or a floppy magazine to stand up straight for the shot is a whole other endeavor.

I do use a light box/photo tent for 3-dimensional items (balls, statues, toys, etc), but find that it's tough to beat a good flatbed scanner when it comes to photos and other flat items.