Projecting Heritage Images

I have been attending conferences, lectures and illustrated talks since 1957. Two years later, I shot my first colour slides and determined to begin giving talks.

ERIC HOULDER LRPS

Author prsenting “Coaching Memories” Credit: Friends of Harrogate Museum

To begin with I read a lot of magazine articles on slide projection, and researched early literature on magic lantern presentation. I was quite lucky in this regard as at one point I had a reader’s ticket for the British Museum library which I put to good use. It is surprising how useful the older techniques were. Our Victorian forebears realised that the best background for projected images was dead black; it still is! They also preferred a proper blackout, especially for colour: it still is preferable! At 81, I am still an inveterate lecture goer. Some lectures have remained in my memory like the two described below. They epitomise the best and the worst of projection:

One of the best took place in the ‘50s. The speaker was an academic from a top university - Leeds. He was actually a grammar school contemporary of my father! He sat behind an Aldis push-pull slide projector and had half a dozen slides in a small yellow box (remember those?). Each slide was used several times, to illustrate a different point each time. He faced the screen, but his voice was completely audible all over the room, and the slides were good. Everyone went away informed, entertained, and more knowledgeable. He was truly a professional.

A more recent presentation involved another academic from the same university. He stood half facing his audience whilst a series of PowerPoint slides was projected from an inadequately-powered projector on to a small screen. Each slide contained nothing but text, and the speaker simply read it out. This was a most unsatisfactory meeting. Even had the projector been adequate, the talk could not have been improved except by a complete re-think and replacement of the images. Your audience deserves better than this, so if you have been asked to give an illustrated talk the hints below should help. You should at least avoid the problems outlined above.

There is still a lot to be said for slides. Photographic magazines have imparted instructions for slide presentations for as long as slides have been used. I have added to this corpus on several occasions, but the basics still need to be emphasised, as every day another nervous tyro begins to put together a talk. Firstly, you need a decent projector, which in fact means a Kodak Carousel or derivative - with a spare bulb to hand. These machines are distinguished by having a metal-based horizontal magazine for 80 or 140 slides. Few other slide projectors have the requisite power or stamina. A remote control is desirable, with an extension cable or infrared remote if necessary. When it comes to slides, they must be of good quality neither too light nor too dark, with straight horizons and vertical buildings – no dizzying sloping churches! No more than 100 images per show please. Title, intermediate titles, maps, diagrams and a closing slide should be made – I gave instructions for this in the’70s, so no excuses. Nowadays, all can be easily produced on the computer and printed; A4 is a useful size. Most modern film cameras will focus close enough to copy maps and diagrams. Just set the ISO to 2/3 of the actual film speed before beginning.

Slides need a really good blackout even with a powerful projector. I once had to cancel a presentation at a local organisation, as the room was just not dark enough for slides even with my Ektalite machine; they have since forgiven me - I hope! Still with slides, they come in vertical or horizontal formats, so a square screen is needed, and of course a decent laser-pointer, not the pathetically weak instruments I have seen built into pens. The type which will down a jumbo-jet should only be used if you are familiar with its use, and are unlikely to blind the audience and passing traffic. Avoid facing the screen when speaking, and at all costs, avoid reading from notes. The images themselves should act as prompts.

Assembling a PowerPoint (or lookalike) show is gratifying and quite easy when you become used to the process. Before beginning, assemble all the illustrations in one folder on your computer desktop. Edit each image for brightness, sloping horizons, keystoned images, poor colour etc. in an editing program. If your images are a mixture of horizontal and vertical, create a square format template to begin with. Otherwise choose the default 4-3 proportioned template; this is perfect for nearly all digital camera formats. Whilst selecting a format you must choose a background colour, and this where the novice always comes a cropper and the problem is caused by PowerPoint itself. The program allows a wide choice of background, oblivious of the fact that projected photographs always look better against a black background. Any other background dilutes the colours. (The converse is true of Prints in a light room, which always look better with a white, cream, or neutral background.) Another point to watch here is the style of change; I was once made dizzy by a show in which the changes simulated pages turning – very unpleasant for those on the front row! An instant change or a medium dissolve is perfectly adequate, and more professional. Up to 150 images is usually sufficient. Remember to create a main title which includes your name, with intermediate titles and a closing one. Maps and diagrams are often better reversed to a negative image, which avoids dazzling the audience; look for solarise in your editing software. Names, dates, and even mugshots can be added as fly-ins. Adding sound and movie-clips is possible, but more difficult, so leave this until you are more competent. When all is finished, save it onto a memory stick as a PowerPoint Show.

To project your PowerPoint you need a laptop – I use an old one – and a projector. The latter must have sufficient power, but as with slides a good blackout helps. The type designed for home projection is rarely adequate. Look at the projectors used by visiting speakers, and ask them about their satisfaction – or otherwise. Older projectors accept their input via VGA sockets, but later ones use HDMI. A simple adaptor is available quite cheaply from good computer shops. A presenter is essential, and they start at about £12. They come in two parts: the sender, and the handset, which usually has a laser-pointer incorporated. You plug the sender into a USB on the laptop, and hold the handset at your position in the front; a line of sight is generally desirable for most presenters, but I find all mine work well when bounced from the screen or even the ceiling. On first use, the presenter has to install its software on the host machine, so allow a few minutes for this.

Several spare batteries for this and any separate laser should be to hand. Spare digital projector bulbs are rarely carried today, when the lamps have such a long life with screen warnings of eventual failure. When I suggested to my wife that I should carry a spare bulb, she asked how long they were supposed to last, and how much they were. I replied, “About 4000 hours and £100” She then closed the argument by saying sweetly, “... and how old are you, Eric?”

Digital projectors nearly all have settings to correct the image for keystoning, so a low table rather than an old-fashioned high stand is desirable. Learn how to use this setting before you need to. Nothing looks as bad as keystoned images in a digital presentation. Good Luck!