Shortly before we left for our holiday break, I had another opportunity to photograph historical materials and objects from the Brown University Archives. We’ve had a number of interesting objects come through lately as part of Brown’s 250th celebrations, and since we often are photographing books and documents, three-dimensional objects can be a treat to have in the studio.
One of the more challenging objects that I got to work with is known as the “Edwards Cane,” a cane that belonged to Morgan Edwards, an important figure in the founding of Brown University. The bottom of the cane is rounded and does not stand on its own; it also has an ivory head with a small silver plate bearing an inscription. It was important to shoot both the cane overall as an object, but also focus in on the inscription.
Edwards Cane; full shot (L) and detail of inscription (R). The hole in the cane visible in the detail shot, just below the ivory handle.
Usually, when we are given more complicated objects to photograph, it’s the nature of the surface materials that presents the greatest challenge: oil paintings, for instance, that are prone to glare; or objects made of silver or glass, which require the construction of light tents in order to capture the details of the object without also capturing our own reflections. The Edwards Cane, however, posed a new challenge: how to adequately support the object while keeping the intrusion of the support elements into the image at a minimum. The best way to photograph it would be to build a support that gently but firmly clamps onto the cane and holds it at a precise position, so we could have the exact angle we wanted without damaging the cane. However, despite multiple attempts, I was unable to find any support mechanism that would support the cane well, not allow any movement, not cause any damage to the cane, and not be incredibly difficult to digitally remove from the final image.
The cane with packaging tape support.
And then I found the trick. The cane actually has a hole running through it a few inches below the top, visible in the detail of the inscription. The hole runs through the width of the cane and is lined in metal; it’s sturdy, and at just the right spot as a center of gravity of sorts. It was perfect – I just had to find the right material to run through this hole to keep the cane supported and at the correct angle. After trying multiple types of rope, twine – even extra strong fishing line – the material that worked best was regular clear packing tape. When folded over itself, the packing tape leaves no residue behind on the object, and it’s possible to fold it in odd shapes as you go. This was important, because I was able to create small bumps on either side of the cane, which did not cover any of the object when photographed but did keep the cane perfectly in place. The cane is very light, so this turned out to be the perfect option for keeping it in place. I ended up using two additional, much more powerful tapes to attach the packaging tape support to the wall and desk of the studio, to keep the cane in the correct position (this technique actually allowed me to change positions easily, so I could angle the cane and capture the inscription without having to reposition the entire setup).
Once the support was in place, the rest of the setup was straightforward. I positioned two lights with umbrellas as well as a simple grey backdrop, and was even able to shoot tethered with our high-resolution digital back (very important in checking the focus, especially on the inscription). I was able to capture the front, back, and a few details relatively easily, only needing to move the lights and slightly adjust the angle of the cane. Adjusting the cane was not a problem, but I waited approximately two minutes after I made any adjustments for any movement I created to cease. The final images did require some minor retouching – mainly just removing the evidence of tape from the grey background. The result was a set of high-resolution, clean final images that show all the important elements of the cane, and further proof that no photography studio can have too much tape on hand.
The final setup for photographing the cane, showing the packaging tape support attached to the studio wall and desk, the camera tethered to our capture computer, and a basic lighting setup.