Best way to take pictures of old photos

[Whitney]

I'm visiting a friend right now, and she has a bunch of old photos, but not the negatives.
What is the best way to get quality photos, of photos?
My cell isn't doing a good job of lighting or quality unfortunately.
Some of these old pictures are from long before I was born, others are of our childhood.
She has a great picture of the two of us riding bicycles, and another swimming in the river, when we were about 7.

 

[NealRomeoGolf]

I assume she doesn't have a scanner?

 

[Whitney]

No scanner.

 

[Rgbeard]

@Pilawt

 

[Albany Tom]

The old fashioned way was to put them on a flat surface, put lights on each side at about a 45 degree angle, and shoot down with a camera. Some phones do a good job on their own. A pair of LED desk lights would probably work well for light if you have them. Alternatively, an overcast day outside, or in the shade could help. More light is almost always better for photos. A tripod and a DSLR would probably do the best job, or a flatbed scanner. With the lights, if they're too high/steep, you can get reflections back into the lens (angle of incident = angle of reflection thing), if they're too low/shallow, they'll over-emphasize surface texture. I've tried ring lights, but they usually cause a mirror image reflection back, unless the target is completely matte.

(I used to know a guy that would copy documents back in the day...)

 

[TomRV4]

I use an app called My Scans. I’m sure there are others. As mentioned above, lighting is important. I made a simple plywood stand that I sit my iPhone on at the correct height above the document (or photo) and take the pic. Works great IMO. You can edit, save or email as a PDF…

 

[Daleandee]

With good support and correct light my smartphone gets some really good copies. With the software available on the phone I can clean them up a bit. The secret for me is to have a way to hold the camera at the correct focal point, good clean lighting, and to be certain there is no glare or reflection on the photo (older photos used to be very shiny).

Be sure to gently clean the photograph before making a copy. On a good copy lint will appear if not removed.

 

[bflynn]

Buy a scanner. Overall, they’re not that expensive. Or, buy a scanner / printer / copier.

 

[Ventucky Red]

Did a similar thing recently. It was only a few photos, and I hit a FedEx Office and use their hardware to scan the photos to a thumb drive. Cost a couple of bucks...

 

[Sac Arrow]

I have to believe there is a postal service or a library in Ft. St. James (there is, I checked) and one of the two likely has a scanner you can use.

 

[Whitney]

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I have to believe there is a postal service or a library in Ft. St. James (there is, I checked) and one of the two likely has a scanner you can use.

She lives in Stewart, where I spent last night, we are in Whitehorse now, and I have ordered a scanner from Amazon, getting it delivered to my friends place in Yellowknife, the one who is getting married on Saturday. Turns out after some texts, my friends in Whitehorse and Yellowknife have lots of old pics, so I will be scanning a bunch in both places, and the ones my friend in Stewart has on the trip home.

Hopefully it works well.