TEMPORARY WEBSITE
The illustrations given here are a few low-resolution compressed copies, but the new website will show some excellent reproductions to give an idea of the level of work that the studio can handle. To get an idea of the commercial photography available, please look at the full-screen images on the new Hillhouse and Hunter website, now almost complete. To enquire about services, please visit this site's contact page.
Studio 33 is a technical and commercial photographic studio in Thornhill
Studio 33 was set up last year to develop a new system for archiving many of Scotland's eighteenth and nineteenth century maps for online distribution by the National Library.
Old-fashioned technical skills in film-based photography have been coupled with current software to develop a system which has shown the way forward and set new standards of quality.
The initial project is now complete and the next phase will see the development of a mobile unit which allows exactly the same state-of-the-art quality reproduction of maps and paintings etc. on location.
The master copies can be used for all kinds of purposes - security, insurance, publishing, archiving, exhibitions, commercial printing, online distribution, research and so on. The standard service gives files which will print to high quality at over twice the original size: the same system can be used for higher magnification if required.
Much of 2015 was spent photographing 18th century maps of the Nithsdale area for the Dumfries Archival Maps Project, Dumfries Museum, the Ewart Library, the National Library of Scotland, Drumlanrig Castle and a number of private estates from the Solway coast to the Lowther Hills.
The skill of the cartographers was astonishing, as are some of the original colours. Unfortunately most websites use heavily-compressed JPEG files, so the images on this page and on the NLS website give no idea of the colour and quality which you can see in uncompressed master copies. An online gallery of details from some of the maps will be available soon, in much better quality.
Studio and location
A mobile unit is being developed so that maps, paintings, tapestries etc. can be photographed on location to the same standard as in the studio. It will be possible to copy map collections anywhere without the risks of transporting irreplaceable pieces of history. Works of art of any size can be photographed in minute detail, down to brushstrokes, fingerprints and even individual specks of dust.
Other photography
As well as photographing old maps, I am also happy to take on location and studio-based jobs shooting food, industrial subjects etc. using skills which started life the sixties. The first photograph I ever took and contact-printed (using tiny enamel dishes of developer and hypo in a bathroom) was of a well-known train before the last steam locomotives went into retirement....surprise, surprise, it was the Flying Scotsman!
Lance Stewart
