Photographing archival objects

[222am]

Hello everyone,

I am by no means a good photographer but I have been given the job (ie. we have no money to hire someone) to photograph several archival artefacts for our website. I am really looking for tips regarding the lighting. The objects I will be photographing range from a group shot containing a reel of film, old beta tapes, dvds, vhs, other video formats in one picture and some shots of the items separate.

I will also need to get some shots of costumes we have from films, sound equipment and different sound formats.

My plan was to have a white background but do you think this would be too bright? Would I need some special equipment to get the lighting. I may be able to borrow some equipment if I know what I need specifically. We have some photographs of vintage equipment already but we need some more modern stuff too.

 

[nataliebee]

My plan was to have a white background but do you think this would be too bright? Would I need some special equipment to get the lighting. I may be able to borrow some equipment if I know what I need specifically. We have some photographs of vintage equipment already but we need some more modern stuff too.

Seems like a good plan. You can't go wrong with a white background. I'd say use some flash with some umbrellas and you're good to go.