To videotape your photos you have to hold them up--and hold them down too.

First, you need some kind of support, a backing of plywood, counter-top material, artist's foam core board, just about anything will do. (A cookie sheet works well, especially if you put the side with the lip down so it will hold other components.) Prop it up with anything handy, at about a 25 degree angle (the precise angle's not important.) Secure it, maybe with duct tape, and use small nails to keep it from sliding forward, as shown.

On top of the backing you need a background cloth, both to keep photos from slipping down this slope, and to supply borders. Prints from most modern cameras come in proportions of three to two (six by four inch prints are common) and some are horizontal while others are vertical. The video frame, however, is always horizontal, and its proportions are four to three. So unless you're willing to cut off substantial areas of your photos, you'll be centering them on a larger background.

In selecting this background, keep these hints in mind:

• Use cloth rather than paper. Its rougher texture holds prints better and looks nice, too.
• Don't use a black background. It will not disappear completely and the result will be a muddy dark gray. Instead, choose a rich, dark color like burgundy or navy blue.
• Try a heavy cloth texture such as burlap, corduroy, or monk's cloth for a richer appearance.

Perhaps the quickest, cheapest way to get a nice looking background is to use a dinner table place mat. The size and texture are perfect and you can get them in outlet stores for under a buck apiece.

The next level in our display sandwich is the photo itself, and on top of it a pane of glass to keep it flat. Glass from an 8x10 picture frame works fine. Non-glare glass is great because it helps reduce reflections.

Now that you can display your photos, you need to set up your camcorder.

The simplest way to position your camcorder is on a tripod, as you can see in Figure 3. As you study this illustration, note three things in particular:

• In order to aim 25 degrees from dead vertical, shorten the two front tripod legs and extend the back one fully.
• Since this arrangement is somewhat unstable, weight the extended rear leg (or secure it with duct tape).
• Make sure that the plane of the display stand is at a 90 degree angle to the lens axis, both horizontally and vertically. This alignment makes the photos look like the rectangles they are, rather than like trapezoids.

What should the lens-to-photo distance be? It depends on your camera's lens, and with small, close subjects, setting focus and distance requires some fiddling around. As a general rule, determine the greatest magnification available by starting with your focus at its closest setting and your camera very close to the subject. Then physically pull the camera back until the object comes into focus.

If your lens has a macro (closeup) setting, enable it and, hand-holding the camera very close to a vertical photo, move slowly back until the image is in focus. Can you see the entire photo? Are you far enough back so that you don't throw a shadow on the print? Then that's where to set your camcorder on its tripod.

You may find, however, that you get better results with the lens set at the extreme telephoto position and the macro function disabled. If this setup allows a picture to fill the frame, you can shoot at a greater and more comfortable distance from your artwork.

Instead of a tripod, you may want to use a film camera copy stand. For many video cameras, however, the lens's minimum focusing distance is greater than the height of the copy stand's camera support. But if a stand works with your camcorder, it may be most convenient way to transfer photos.

You can also build a simple custom camera support. If you decide to do this, you need to know that most camcorders sold in North America have tripod sockets threaded for a "1/4-20X" bolt. This designation means a quarter-inch-wide bolt with 20 threads per inch. Figure 4 shows the hardware you'll need.

To use this rig, screw the bolt a few turns into the tripod socket (but not all the way, to avoid freezing it). Then snug the wing nut firmly against its washer. This will hold the camcorder securely.

With both pictures and camcorder well supported, you're ready to light your shoot.

If you want to take the trouble, you can use movie lights. Halogen work lights are very inexpensive, they work just fine, and they're obtainable at any discount building store.

But to keep things even cheaper and simpler, Figure 3 shows how to create outdoor lighting with just a bedsheet and some clothesline. In addition to easy setup, this approach offers two big advantages:

• It provides absolutely shadowless, glare-free lighting.
• It permits your camcorder to work at a very high f-stop (small lens opening).

To see why a small lens opening is critical in shooting small objects at short distances, look at figure 5. The ruler in 5a was videotaped in room light at a large lens opening. The ruler in 5b was taped in much brighter light, which demanded a very small lens opening. Notice how little of the 5a ruler is sharp, compared to 5b. To make sure your photos come out looking crisp, you need the extra depth of field (sharpness) obtainable only in bright light.

But why rig this tent? Why not just set up your stand on the shady side of the house? Because the outdoor color temperature setting of your camcorder is optimized for direct sunlight, so copies lit by sunshine diffused through a sheet will display natural-looking colors. On the other hand, copies made in the much cooler light of open shade will look too blue.