habs haer hals photography guidelines slideshow

Stephen Schafer www.habsphoto.com

Stephen Schafer M.S.U.www.HABSPHOTO.com

USC July 23, 2011

H3


HHABS H HAER H HALS

HABS-CA-48, March 1934 HABS-CA-2830, March 2010

ABSABS AERAER ALSALSPhotographic Documentation of Historic Resources

HH3


Historic American Buildings Survey 1933Historic American Engineering Record 1969Historic American Landscape Survey 2000

What’s HABS HAER & HALS (HWhat’s HABS HAER & HALS (H33)

The National Park Service Documentation Programs at the Library of Congress


HABS HAER & HALS PhotographyLarge Format 5x7 or 4x5 inch

Large Format Film Perspective Correction & Levels

Best ResolutionArchival Stability

“Truthi-est” Perspective



HH3

SurveysHave Multiple

Parts

A. Written History

B. Measured Drawings (Plans)

C. Large-Format archival B&W film photographs(field photos & copies of historic prints and plans)

Plus Field Notes, Sketch Maps, GPS, & Color Photos


HH3

DocumentationHas Three

Levels

I. Full Monty ( Full written historic report, measured drawings, copies of historic photos & plans and detailed large format field photos)

II. Detailed field photos & full written report

III. General field photos & general written report

I, II & III

Stephen Schafer www.habsphoto.comStephen Schafer www.habsphoto.com

Why take the ugliest photo of the Kaufmann House?


MaD

MATERIALS

DESIGN

FEELING

LOCATION

ASSOCIATION

WORKMANSHIP

SETTING

FLAWS

The 7

Aspects ofIntegrity

(MaD FLAWS)


MaDFLAWS

aMMATERIALS


MaDaDDESIGNFLAWS


MaDFLAWS

D

LFFEELING


MaDFLAWS

F

ALLOCATION


MaDFLAWS

L

WAASSOCIATION


MaDFLAWS

A

SWWORKMANSHIP


MaDFLAWS


WSSETTING


MAX DATA


Adds perspective distortion

TiltedCamera

Film and lens@ angle to Building


Perspective straightened

LeveledCamera

Film and lensparallel to Building


LeveledCamera

Lens raised & parallel to

Building

Perspective corrected

Building distortion from digital camera angled up

Building distortion corrected in PHOTOSHOP

Building distortion corrected in CAMERA

Building distortion corrected in PHOTOSHOP

Building distortion corrected in CAMERA

Stephen Schafer www.habsphoto.comWide angle perspective

What Lens?Wide Angle?Telephoto?

Stephen Schafer www.habsphoto.comStephen Schafer www.habsphoto.comPerspective compressed with telephoto lens


Use the most“NORMAL”

lens angle possible


Wide Anglesare necessary


What if wide angle lenses aren’t wide enough?

Multi-part panoramas with overlap

Context


Near Context


Overall


Detail


What order?Context > Overall > Details > Interiors > Interior Detail

CONTEXT


Context > Overall > Details > Interiors > Interior Detail

What order? Interior Detail


NASA AMES RESEARCH - 7’ x 10’ Wind Tunnel #2 HAER Documentation - October 2010

Secretary of the Interior's Standardsfor Architectural and Engineering Documentation

Standard I. Documentation Shall Adequately Explicate and Illustrate What is

Significant...

Standard II. Documentation Shall be Prepared Accurately From Reliable Sources...

Standard III. Documentation Shall be Prepared on Materials That are Readily

Reproducible, Durable and in Standard Sizes.

Standard IV. Documentation Shall be Clearly and Concisely Produced...

...legible and understandable, and... must contain scale information and location

references.



5x7 = 35 square inches

35mm = 1.5 square inches

Large format B&W film is silver on polyester

Size does matter

Size = ResolutionStable 500+ years

More durable – heavier film baseSheets of film easier to handle, label & catalog


HH3

Deliverables

HH3 Now accepts digital PRINTS

Archival Negativesin Buffered Envelopes&Traditional Fiber MountCards “Corner Cut”orArchival Fiber DigitalMount Cards&Field Notes & Maps

HH3

DeliverablesField Notes & Sketch Maps

How Long does it take?


PROCESS FILMLIGHT

FILM NEGATIVE IS STORAGE MEDIA

DUPLICATION &

DIGITIZATIONFOR

ACCESS&

BACKUP

RESCAN FILM IF BACKUP FAILS

DUPLICATION

DIGITIZATION

FILMCAMERA

OPTIONAL

Built-in Redundancy

Standard III. Documentation Shall be Prepared on Materials That are ReadilyReproducible, Durable and in Standard Sizes.

Digital data must be preserved & sustainable

• Seek data resiliency – Known error rate of file formats

• Minimize media degradation – Bit-Rot

• Predict required migration – File formats change

• Widespread adoption of media, standards & availability

• of software/hardware}

Standard III. Documentation Shall be Prepared on Materials That are Readily

Forever ???

Negative Life Expectancy 500+ Years

Fiber Print Life Expectancy 150+ Years


DATALIGHT

Digital Camera

DIGITAL DATA STORAGE

DEVICEDu JOUR

BACKUPBACKUP REDUNDANCY

MIGRATION

ERROR CORRECTION

DATAPROCESSINGCOMPUTER DATA

Digital Preservation has many unknownsFilm Life Expectancy = LE-500+Digital Life Expectancy = ???

Few digital preservation success stories – many horror stories!

High cost of high-resolution digital cameras & equipment(Replacement 3-5 years)

IT Digital storage costs are approximately TEN fold.

NARA archives = $5m for analog archives ($80m and $50m for ERA)

No standards exist for BORN-DIGITAL archival photo surveys

HABS/HAER/HALS would need to establish those new standards


Main Street, Downieville, Sierra, CA

HABS-CA-48, March 1934 (77 years)HABS-CA-2830, March 2010

Dining Room, The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Valley, CA

Pong

Atari 2600

Commodore 64K

8-Tracks

45’s

LP’s

Beta vs. VHS

2021?

2111?

2211?

2511?

Stephen Schafer www.habsphoto.comStephen Schafer www.habsphoto.comRequired: Eyeball & Light

Viewing HABS 1930s Analog

Photographs


Viewing HABS 1930s Analog

Photographs

Stephen Schafer www.habsphoto.comRequired: Eyeball & Light + INVERT

Hyperfocal helmet attachmentRequired: Sight-augmenting visual perspectivity scrutinization apparatus (steam-assisted)

What If ?

1930s Digital

ImageryViewer


Superior StandardsPublic Access

Keyword SearchableLE-500 Storage

Online access to HH3collections at LOC

H3

The HAER was one of thefirst collections digitized at the LOC

because of its exceptional K-12 educational value

Approximately 50K visitors per month@ 800,000 page views per month

Library of Congress, Washington DC


Library of CongressAmericanMemoryMemory


James Ennis HouseChaffee County Coloradoc. 1885


Governor Johnson Ennis HouseBaldwin County Georgia c. 1838


Ennis House, Los Feliz Photogrammetric Elevation 1969


Ennis House, Los Feliz5x7 HABS Photographic DocumentationJanuary 2011


Not Real StandardzRarely Accessible

Not SearchableStorage Lacking

HABS-LikeHABS-LITEDiet-HABS

HABS-Like is popularas CEQA mitigation

BEST Practices1. Follow H3 Specs2. Ensure longevity3. Find accessible archive4. Ensure public benefit

XNot Real StandardzXNot Real StandardzRarely AccessibleXRarely Accessible

Not SearchableXNot SearchableStorage LackingXStorage Lacking


HABS-LikeBEST CASE SCENARIO

IS

DONATION


Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village HALS donated to LOC

5x7 Negatives + one set of prints + “Short Form” historic report•Location •Description (200 words)

•History & Significance (450+ words)

•Sources (NR nomination + primary sources)

•Name of Historian


MYTHS About H About H3

1. LOC wantsonly landmarks

2. NPS reviewsHH3 donations

XX1. LOC wantsX1. LOC wantsXonly landmarksXonly landmarks

XX2. NPS reviewsX2. NPS reviewsXdonationsXdonations


May 2010HH3 Specifications

Google “HABS Transmittal”

Jan 2010 NRHP Specifications

Google “National Register photo fact sheet” $70 John A. Burns

May 2010NEW

$70 John A. Burns

OLD

All H3 Specs online as PDFs


TheEnd

Stephen SchaferVentura, California

www.HABSPHOTO.com

habs haer hals photography guidelines slideshow

Presentations & Public Speaking