photograph ancestry research

How to use your camera to document and photograph ancestry research.

For over 25 years, I have used the camera to capture the lives of my family and friends. The camera has been an essential tool in my professional career in public relations and advertising. I first started with a film camera and spent hundreds of excellent/fun hours developing and printing my prints in a dark room. Since the late 90′s, I have used the digital camera extensively to aid in my historical and genealogical research in places such as local courthouses, libraries, genealogical societies, family cemeteries, and long-ago home sites, the homes of those who have a portion of the family record.

Photograph Ancestry Research
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The digital camera has been the most flexible and essential tool for capturing digital images. As I have sought to learn about my ancestors, I’ve been fortunate to travel to some of the areas where my ancestors lived and have had the opportunity to do on-site research. These experiences have ranged from half-day excursions to a month-long stay. I used the camera about 90% indoors and 10% outdoors.

Common places indoors

  1. Libraries.
  2. Courthouses.
  3. Museums.
  4. Historical societies.
  5. Homes.
  6. Family reunions.
  7. Other places where documents and pictures are stored.

Types of indoor projects

  1. Text, existing photographs, or other images.
  2. Some will be black and white, some grayscale, and some will be in color.
  3. Some will be in books; some will be unbound.
  4. Some will be old and brittle or so fragile that they are stored and viewed in a room where they won’t let the light of day come in.

Outdoors 10-plus percent

  1. Cemeteries.
  2. Land or buildings where family members once lived, worked or worshipped.
  3. Many outdoor shots are of historical consequence but not of genealogical substance.

Consider using your digital camera to document and capture the information you find in your research. If you have never used your camera in your library research, practice in your local library under conditions, including meager light. Again, the time to learn isn’t at a cemetery 2,000 miles from home.

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Digital Photography is All About Lighting and Location

The first problem you will always face with photography is lighting, and I use flash less than 10% of the time. Instead of flash use natural lighting (near a window), light stands with diffusion screen and lights, or a self-contained photo studio (includes a tripod, diffusion lights and screen, and copy stand. Shooting documents with a flash indoors usually create a “hot spot” caused by using a flash too close. When you have no choice but to use a flash, use it sparingly, such as in a group setting or on a gravestone in a shaded area. Many libraries and research facilities prohibit flash photography, so come prepared to shoot without a flash.

  • Note 1: Sunlight is known as “white” light and gives what we recognize as genuine or natural colors. Any other light source has the light of a different color temperature and gives off different color tones.
  • Note 2: Digital cameras try to adjust for different kinds of lighting automatically but sometimes need additional help. The camera’s “white balance” setting provides this help. This setting “reads” the light coming into the camera lens and, by assuming the brightest area in the image is white, attempts to balance the entire image so that the bright area looks white. All other colors should then appear natural.

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photograph ancestry research

Photograph Ancestry Research in Libraries

When planning to take photographs in a library, the following tips may be helpful:

  • Know their policy about digital photography before you go. Eight percent of libraries have allowed me to use a digital camera with some criteria.
  • Do not use flash. Using a flash is usually prohibited due to the photosensitivity of artifacts.
  • Set up a photo stand or tripod.
  • You may need to sign an intended use statement.
  • You may need to have one of their staff handle rare objects.
  • Only take photos of intended artifacts.
  • No photos are usually allowed of the building’s interior or people (especially in government buildings).
  • Set up the camera in a corner away from others to not disturb.
  • Set up near a window to gain the most from natural light if possible.

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Photograph Ancestry Research in Museums and Archives

When planning to take photographs in a museum or archive, the following tips may be helpful:

  • Check first to see if photography is allowed.
    • Most museums and archives will allow photography without a flash.
  • Objects covered with glass or plastic are the best shot at an angle.
    • Glass/plastic will reflect a flash or act as a mirror and reflect your image under natural light; consider photographing the object at an angle.
  • Snap a separate picture of a caption or a label of the exhibit.
  • Use the tripod along with your camera’s self-timer night/lowlight setting:
    • Lack of good lighting is usually the norm in museums.
    • Use the tripod to steady your image.
    • When you encounter shallow light situations, try putting your camera on night setting and enabling your self-timer.
    • With the steadiness of the tripod and camera settings, you should get some good-quality photos.
  • No Tripod? Then brace yourself:
    • If it is too dark and there is no tripod, leaning against a wall or a pillar or supporting your camera against a bench, a chair, or a staircase rail will be a good remedy.
    • If a subject is essential enough, take an extra shot.

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Photograph Microfilm in Ancestry Research

Note: These are the backlit or rear projection readers that shine a light through the film and use a series of mirrors and lenses to display an image of the film on a vertical or flat surface. The image displayed in either style can be easily photographed.

  1. Depending upon your circumstances, you may or may not need to mount your camera on a tripod. I have raised my camera near the projection lens, clicked the shutter button, and gained a clear photo with no distortion. If you choose to use a tripod, place your camera on a tripod located in front of the reader screen.
  2. Place a white paper on the reader’s surface as the target area for shooting. Try other blank sheets of colored paper (e.g., pink, blue, yellow) to see if these colors help you with the image’s readability.
  3. Adjust the camera/tripod position so that the information you want to copy fills the LCD frame, not the viewfinder.
  4. Set the macro mode if necessary. This will depend on your camera model and its distance from the microfilm reader.
  5. Make sure the flash is turned off.
  6. Set the camera’s self-timer if needed.
  7. Gently press the shutter button halfway to lock the exposure and focus.
  8. Press the button completely down. If using the self-timer, move away from the camera and wait for the self-timer to trip the shutter.
  9. Take several shots. Consider using the “best shot selector” and auto bracketing your shots if your camera has these features, or manual bracketing if it doesn’t.

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Photographing Bound Pages in Ancestry Research

For over 40 years, I have used the camera to capture the lives of my family and friends. The camera has been an essential tool in my professional career in public relations and advertising. I first started with a film camera and spent hundreds of excellent/fun hours developing and printing my prints in a dark room.

Since the late 90′s, I have used the digital camera extensively to aid in my genealogical research in places such as local courthouses, libraries, genealogical societies, family cemeteries, and long-ago home sites, the homes of those who have a portion of the family record.

The following is the process I use with my digital camera to photograph bound pages.

Books can be a problem because the pages seldom lay completely flat when the book is opened to an expected reading position.

  1. Shoot book pages with the cover held up at about an 80-degree angle, allowing the page you are photographing to lay flat. Depending on the book, you may be able to lay the book flat and photograph both pages simultaneously.
    • Note: Double-check your LCD to make sure that you can get the entire page and that there are no shadows on the page or other interference that would keep you from being able to read the page at a later date.
  2. Rotate the book, so the spine is facing the back of the copy stand.
  3. Open the book to the first page you want to shoot:
    • Make sure no shadows are falling on the page.
    • Hold the front or back cover and the pages preceding the one you are shooting.
  4. Under most conditions, you should be able to press the shutter button and go to the next page. Depending on the light conditions, you may need to manually set your shutter speed to stay open a little longer. If this is the case, set the timer and press the shutter button halfway down and hold it in position for a few seconds to give the camera time to adjust the automatic focus and exposure settings.
  5. Check to ensure the focus is correct before pressing the button down, so the timer releases the shutter.

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Photographing Unbound Pages in Ancestry Research

I use the following process with my digital camera to photograph unbound pages.

  1. Mount your camera on its stand, in shooting position.
    • Use a white sheet of paper or a white painted cookie sheet: A) Set the pre-set white balance on your camera. B) Choose auto white balance if your camera doesn’t have a pre-set option.
  2. Place your document in position and anchor it with magnets.
  3. Select the camera’s macro mode if necessary.
  4. Zoom in so your document is properly framed.
  5. Check to make sure the focus is clear and sharp.
  6. Under most conditions, you should be able to press the shutter button and go to the next page. Depending on the light conditions, you may need to manually set your shutter speed to stay open a little longer. If this is the case, set the timer and press the shutter button halfway down and hold it in position for a few seconds to give the camera time to adjust the automatic focus and exposure settings.
  7. View the picture on the LCD and zoom in, and check for the proper focus and exposure (brightness and contrast). Can you easily read the text?
  8. If the focus or exposure is incorrect, make the camera corrections and re-shoot the document.

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Photographing Oversized Pages  in Ancestry Research

I use the following process with my digital camera to photograph oversized pages.

  1. Set up your stand and adjust your camera.
  2. Open the significant book/page.
  3. Adjust the camera and take photos.
  4. If the page is too large for your camera (e.g., map, newspaper), consider taking multiple photos which can be “stitched” together in an editing program. I have to take a 3″ x 5″ cards and write one of the following words on each card: Start, 1, 2, 3 4, End. As outlined below, I place the cards around the large object I am photographing. The cards help guide me to what image goes where when I am stitching the image back together.
    • Use card: START (On top of the page to be filmed)
    • Use card: 1 (Quadrant 1) (Top nearest spine)
    • Use card: 2 (Quadrant 2) (Top nearest right edge)
    • Use card: 3 (Quadrant 3) (Bottom nearest spine)
    • Use card: 4 (Quadrant 4) (Bottom right edge)
    • Use Card: END (Placed on top of the page just filmed)
  5. Rotate the book/paper as needed.

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Photographing Photos in Ancestry Research

The following is the process I use with my digital camera to photograph photos. Best shots are captured using a mobile studio setup (better lighting with a copy stand):

  1. Mount your camera on its stand, in a shooting position.
  2. Use a white sheet of paper/copy stand.
  3. If you use a cookie sheet as your platform, place your photo in its position and anchor it with magnets.
  4. Select the camera’s macro mode if necessary.
  5. Zoom in such a photo is framed correctly.
  6. Check to make sure the focus is clear and sharp.
  7. Press the shutter. Set the timer and press the shutter if you use the camera’s self-timer.
  8. View the picture on the LCD and zoom in; check for the proper focus exposure (brightness and contrast).
    • Make sure you don’t see any reflections, hot spots, etc.
  9. If the focus or exposure is incorrect, make the camera corrections, and re-shoot the document/photo.

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Photographing Scrapbooks and Artwork  in Ancestry Research

For over 40 years, I have used the camera to capture the lives of my family and friends. The camera has been an essential tool in my professional career in public relations and advertising. I first started with a film camera and spent hundreds of excellent/fun hours developing and printing my prints in a dark room. Since the late 90s, I have used the digital camera extensively to aid my genealogical research.

I want to share a few lessons I have learned when photographing scrapbooks/artwork.
Photograph your children with their art. Please take photos of your kids with their artwork, and it will help you remember their age when they created it.

Take individual photos of each piece. Photographs of your child’s creations will last longer than the originals. Take the pieces outside on an overcast day, or find an indoor location with even, non-glare lighting. Find a simple background. Use the close-up mode on your camera for smaller pieces. If you are indoors, experiment with your flash since it may cause distracting reflections. Use your camera’s preview mode to ensure you didn’t cut off any corners.

Frame it. Framing your child’s art is the perfect way to show how much you appreciate it. Photography is the perfect way to accommodate big pieces, three-dimensional ones, or pieces made from inexpensive materials that will fade or dry out. Don’t forget a nice mat, and have the artist sign and date their work.

Document the process. When kids are young, everyday events become just as important as birthdays and holidays and worthy of photography. Remember to capture the artist at work. Chart the project’s development with a photo diary for those big projects – from brainstorming to research to rough sketches and completion.

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Photographing Slides and Film  in Ancestry Research

I use the following process with my digital camera to photograph slides and film.

Copying slides and film with your digital camera is possible and can be a great way to convert your files to digital images without a noticeable loss of clarity from the originals.

First, you will need to find an adaptor—which usually fits on the front of your camera. Check out www.specialtyphotographic.com. This company manufactures adapters for copying slides with a digital camera. When you speak with the company, they will ask you questions to help them find the right attachments for you.

If you can secure the adaptor, try the following:

  1. For best results, mount your camera on a tripod.
  2. Mount your adaptor to the camera.
  3. Place the camera in front of a light source that will provide consistent, steady light. Examples of such light that can be used include the slide projector (the projector fan cools light) or the light stand from Photo-studio-in-a-box from American Recorder http://www.americanrecorder.com/.
  4.  Insert a memory card. I suggest 256 meg or higher, and this will allow you to take more photos before needing to download them to the computer.
  5. Insert the first slide/film and click the shutter button.
    • Note: When you take pictures of the first few slides, download them to your computer and review them to make sure you are getting the quality you desire. Quality variations can be due to the intensity of the light. If you are not getting the desired image quality, try adjusting the distance of the light or changing light sources.
  6. Insert the next slide and continue the process. If you cannot secure an adaptor for your camera, I strongly suggest using scanners equipped for slides and film.

The following is a graphic depiction of how I set up the tools I discussed above to digitize slides, film, and microfilm.

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Additional Resources to Consider

Consider expanding your knowledge beyond taking photographs for storytelling and ancestry research.

 

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