Transcontinental Railroad pic (Belmondo you might be interested)

The plan:

My family has our own copy of the driving of the gold and silver spike when the transcontinental railroad was finished. I believe the picture is unique and does not show up in the history books, but I have not seen it recently, so I am not sure. Anyway, it is quite large something like 2' x 3'. I would love to get it in digital form, but am unsure how to do it. I figure my best bet is to set the picture up on an easel or chair and the camera on a tripod. Any other suggestions or advice?

History (for those RR lovers)

My great grandfather, James Hanford, worked with Leland Stanford on the railroads. He handled the monies or something like that. Anyway, the two were very good friends, Leland Stanford was godfather to my Grandmother. As a result, on that historic day, My great grandfather was presented with his own copy of the driving of the gold and silver spikes. The picture stayed in the family until my Grandmother donated it to the Stanford Railroad Museum. Before that happened, Kodak made full sized copies for the various kids that were interested, which is how my Mom came to have one. My great grandfather went on to found the town of Hanford here in Calif. and open a gold mine there, all as a result of the railroad legacy.

That is interesting. I'd love to see that photo someday. If you ever find out where it's on display, I will make a sincere effort to go see it.

I have a friend that used to live in Hanford.

BTW, what part of Northern California are you from? I used to live in Los Gatos.

How funny, I grew up in Los Gatos, I now live in Capitola. How long were you there? Both my mom and dad grew up there, went to school there and met there. They still live there......lol. Its strange to say in this day and age, but I grew up in the very same house my mom grew up in. When I take the pic of the picture, I will post it for people to see.

Wouldn't a flat bed scanner do a better job as well as give you higher resolution??

I know my high school has a mount specifically for taking pics like what you're talking about. It looks like an oversized over-head projector, you put the camera with the lens pointing down in a mount at the top and then there's a flat white board for the picture to lay on while you take the picture of it. IIRC, we used some kind of putty stuff on the backs on the pics to hold them flat. Then we mounted lights above the camera and adjusted them correctly to avoid shadows. Then you can take the picture.

It sounds like, with a picture like the one you have, you may have to get a wider angle lens to capture the whole pic or mount the camera very high. It wouldn't be worth making one of these types of contraptions, but if a school near you has one, I bet they'd let you use it. It would be easier than an easel because you could be sure the camera is centered on the picture. Wow, I hope all that made sense!