Want to Know More About HABS Projects

[Ed Richards]

I could not get a good read from my reviewer in the southern office, so I submitted on archival paper and then reprinted with the number. That way I was sure that they would be happy with the paper.

I'm
Not sure about your reviewer but at the western regional NPS office they will review drafts formatted on regular paper printed on a good quality laser printer. Leave the number area filled with HAER-CA-XXXX-1 ( 2,3,etc .though all your numbers)

After they review, comment and provide numbers you can print the archival set to HABS HAER HALS standards with pigment inks on the required heavy approved paper.

Good luck

[Kirk Gittings]

FWIW I've done a lot of these over the years, sometimes for $$ and sometimes for free just to support a historic preservation project and.......it gets me access to sites where I might find some interesting images for personal work that normally I would not see. I actually wrote and illustrated the original guide for HABS work for the National Trust for Historic Preservation-long out of print now though and may have been supplanted by a newer version.

[schafphoto]

... I actually wrote and illustrated the original guide for HABS work for the National Trust for Historic Preservation-long out of print now though and may have been supplanted by a newer version.

Hi Kirk,

I think the current bible for HABS/HAER/HALS recordation is the book: Recording Historic Structures (2nd Edition) from the National Park Service by John A Burns. Mostly filled with Jack Boucher and Jet Lowe's photography. It's still in print but pricey at around $80.00.
It's a great overview of the stringent documentation process though, including guidelines for measured drawings and case studies of surveyed resources. I know years ago when I got into this full time I used it a lot before the PDF's were easy to get and view on my ancient Apple computer.

In addition to the online PDF's from the National Park Service Heritage Documentation Programs, (which have all the current guidelines and specifications) there are a few articles in View Camera Magazine about various aspects of HABS. May/June 2010 has a story about processing HABS / HAER / HALS film. And I believe there's another story about Jack Boucher's techniques in an older issue. I wish I could have met him. I believe Jet Lowe has now retired from HAER. But both Jack and Jet have some beautiful books of architectural and engineering photography as well.

-Schaf

[pchaplo]

Hi Kirk,

I think the current bible for HABS/HAER/HALS recordation is the book: Recording Historic Structures (2nd Edition) from the National Park Service by John A Burns. Mostly filled with Jack Boucher and Jet Lowe's photography. It's still in print but pricey at around $80.00.
It's a great overview of the stringent documentation process though, including guidelines for measured drawings and case studies of surveyed resources. I know years ago when I got into this full time I used it a lot before the PDF's were easy to get and view on my ancient Apple computer.

In addition to the online PDF's from the National Park Service Heritage Documentation Programs, (which have all the current guidelines and specifications) there are a few articles in View Camera Magazine about various aspects of HABS. May/June 2010 has a story about processing HABS / HAER / HALS film. And I believe there's another story about Jack Boucher's techniques in an older issue. I wish I could have met him. I believe Jet Lowe has now retired from HAER. But both Jack and Jet have some beautiful books of architectural and engineering photography as well.

-Schaf

Thanks, Schaf I just ordered the book Recording Historic Structures (2nd Edition). I find this very interesting!

Paul

[pchaplo]

Hi Kirk,
I think the current bible for HABS/HAER/HALS recordation is the book: Recording Historic Structures (2nd Edition) from the National Park Service by John A Burns. Mostly filled with Jack Boucher and Jet Lowe's photography. It's still in print but pricey at around $80.00.
It's a great overview of the stringent documentation process though, including guidelines for measured drawings and case studies of surveyed resources. I know years ago when I got into this full time I used it a lot before the PDF's were easy to get and view on my ancient Apple computer.

In addition to the online PDF's from the National Park Service Heritage Documentation Programs, (which have all the current guidelines and specifications) there are a few articles in View Camera Magazine about various aspects of HABS. May/June 2010 has a story about processing HABS / HAER / HALS film. And I believe there's another story about Jack Boucher's techniques in an older issue. I wish I could have met him. I believe Jet Lowe has now retired from HAER. But both Jack and Jet have some beautiful books of architectural and engineering photography as well.
-Schaf

Schaf, how do you field number your negatives and track them through developing? I did get the book that you recommended and am reading it. Thanks, Paul

[schafphoto]

Hi Paul,

I have a clipboard with a form for all the field notes that my assistant fills out. It has View #, Camera Height, Compass, Lens, Fstop, speed, 4x5 or 5x7, notes, film-holder numbers, filters, push/pull, etc. and a description of the subject. Then we also mark the photo location on a printed out letter-size Google map download. I rewrite everything later so it doesn’t need to be neat. (PM me and I can send you a copy of my form) I also still use Polaroids (Fuji 100B) and have those numbered with a Sharpie, but that’s running out. I also use a Nikon D800 for high resolution digital views from the same tripod positions as a perk for my clients and to use in my own marketing/website. So this gives me a time/date stamp that corresponds to the field notes I have a GPS receiver for it as well if someone requests GPS Metadata like on a power transmission line or canal. I just did a 100 view Historic American Buildings Survey documentation last week of seven warehouses at the San Francisco Presidio and all seven looked very similar, so I’ll be using the digitals and the Fujiroids and we took a lot of extra time with the field notes. On the advice of Christine Avery in the NPS western region field office we are doing a set of contexts of all the warehouses and seven individually numbered sets for each building. Her words of advice were:

- "Let's do this as a complex. So that means CA-XXX, CA-XXX-A, -B, -C, etc. I believe these buildings are very similar, some identical, so the lettered reports can be the short form outline, and you can put most of the historical info in the main report.” So that meant we had eight sets of notes and eight sets of maps, what a headache. But we still managed to set a record of 31 views in one day (with lunch). you can see some at my @HABS_photographer Instagram.

Another tip is not to let to much time elapse between photography and processing, my memory starts to fade. You could number the negatives on temporary plastic sleeves before you get an official NPS HABS/HAER number – while the process drags on and you wait the excruciating time for approvals from client/NPS so you don’t forget.

I hope I understood your question, good luck,
-Schaf

[pchaplo]

Hi Paul,

I have a clipboard with a form for all the field notes that my assistant fills out. It has View #, Camera Height, Compass, Lens, Fstop, speed, 4x5 or 5x7, notes, film-holder numbers, filters, push/pull, etc. and a description of the subject. Then we also mark the photo location on a printed out letter-size Google map download. I rewrite everything later so it doesn’t need to be neat. (PM me and I can send you a copy of my form) I also still use Polaroids (Fuji 100B) and have those numbered with a Sharpie, but that’s running out. I also use a Nikon D800 for high resolution digital views from the same tripod positions as a perk for my clients and to use in my own marketing/website. So this gives me a time/date stamp that corresponds to the field notes I have a GPS receiver for it as well if someone requests GPS Metadata like on a power transmission line or canal. I just did a 100 view Historic American Buildings Survey documentation last week of seven warehouses at the San Francisco Presidio and all seven looked very similar, so I’ll be using the digitals and the Fujiroids and we took a lot of extra time with the field notes. On the advice of Christine Avery in the NPS western region field office we are doing a set of contexts of all the warehouses and seven individually numbered sets for each building. Her words of advice were:

- "Let's do this as a complex. So that means CA-XXX, CA-XXX-A, -B, -C, etc. I believe these buildings are very similar, some identical, so the lettered reports can be the short form outline, and you can put most of the historical info in the main report.” So that meant we had eight sets of notes and eight sets of maps, what a headache. But we still managed to set a record of 31 views in one day (with lunch). you can see some at my @HABS_photographer Instagram.

Another tip is not to let to much time elapse between photography and processing, my memory starts to fade. You could number the negatives on temporary plastic sleeves before you get an official NPS HABS/HAER number – while the process drags on and you wait the excruciating time for approvals from client/NPS so you don’t forget.

I hope I understood your question, good luck,
-Schaf

Thanks Schaf, you are most helpful! I have my first HABS (HAER) project and it is local (thank goodness). Thanks for the detail on your record keeping. Do you actually have any number or ID imprint on the actual film negative? If I understand you correctly, you use your records, Polaroids (I am out of those), and digital shots to match the LF film camera views. Do you process film in order to reference them to the shooting order (and even the film holder) or just match your 'roids and digital shots?

I have a digital camera w/GPS and can do the same, along with careful note-taking. I will do Google Earth map to mark with setups and directions of view -- we thought along the same lines on that approach. Good idea to process promptly while the memory of the setups is still fresh -- thanks for that tip.

Another question: I shot tests with Ilford HP5 to get my LF juices flowing again. Can I use that same film for any copy work -- there may be some drawings/plans. HP5 seems to be the only 4x5 B&W film that I can find stocked locally ...and happy to find that!

If I do traditional contact prints, what paper (that is widely available) do you recommend for wet darkroom? I understand that double weight is acceptable. I am still looking at the digital print specs -- I have a suitable scanner and may eventually get an anti-newton glass holder.

Doing a first HAER is daunting but I am excited. I love old structures and miss LF, so here I go!

Wishing you great light!
Paul

[schafphoto]

Paul,
It’s fun to see your excitement. I remember my first HABS job, all questions no answers. Keep in mind that the film will have an image on it that hopefully looks a lot like the subject you’ve photographed. That’s the best way to know what the film has on it a number would just be superfluous. Unless you have a project with over 50 views, it should be obvious which film is which when you look at it on the lightbox. I use Ilford MG glossy FB for contacts, easiest to find and a fine paper, it curls a bit though so I print on 5x7 paper and cut down to 4x5. I have used ilford HP5 for blueprints and historic photos, FP4 or a 100 ASA film may be better but 400 will work too.
-Schaf

[schafphoto]

BTW the HABS/HAER/HALS photo guidelines and transmittal guidelines were updated in June. Here are links to the June 2015 PDF’s for a full description of the process.

http://www.nps.gov/hdp/standards/Transmittal.pdf

also read:

http://www.nps.gov/hdp/standards/PhotoGuidelines.pdf

[Jac@stafford.net]

BTW the HABS/HAER/HALS photo guidelines and transmittal guidelines were updated in June. Here are links to the June 2015 PDF’s for a full description of the process.

http://www.nps.gov/hdp/standards/Transmittal.pdf

also read:

http://www.nps.gov/hdp/standards/PhotoGuidelines.pdf

Stephen you are just the man to affirm this - is it true that the photographer retains copyright of HABS/HAER/HALS accepted material, or is it immaterial because anyone can copy the work from federal resources?

Aside: I have found the projects' images immeasurably helpful in our area due to the loss and recreation of some infrastructure.