Thanks Tony for mentioning our project here at the Horniman Museum.
Actually, I was going to comment that I sent the "Collections Trust's Guide" to the two teams of 2 doc assistants photographing for the project at HM and they really liked it. I think it was useful to let them review what they know already as they are not photographers, don't want to be and know how difficult it is to take more than a "good enough" photo.
My experience shows that these kind of guides are only useful if they come together with lots of support from a professional. It's been two years now that I'm working with helping these teams and they still call me for sorting out what for professional would be, small problems.
I doubt any of them could get the results they are getting just by following the guide. Every time I take leave, I come back to find they have left a batch of objects to be assessed by me because they were not sure how to photograph them. Also, we have fortnight meetings where we discuss better practices and raise current issues. These meetings are extremely helpful, as they provide an opportunity for me to reset the standards which sometimes start to deviate due to bad habits. For example, occasionally the teams have to be reminded where best to place the colour-patch when photographing with a macro lens.
I think we all agree there's a need to include an entry on the Guide about the importance of professional advice.
Best,
Dani
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