Rediscovering the Past with Eddie Tapp

Over the past 50 years, I’ve accumulated more than a million negatives, transparencies, and prints. Most of them sat untouched in storage for decades, stacked away in boxes under beds, in the attic, and even crammed into the garage. Recently, I moved everything into my home, and suddenly space became a real issue.

Sorting through it all will take years, but the process has been rewarding. I’ve stumbled across images that never faced my “tuff love” edit, along with some personal favorites that brought back powerful memories. This is the story of rediscovering a few of those photographs and breathing new life into them.

Building a Simple Copy Station

Thanks to my friend Jack Reznicki, I learned how to set up a temporary copy station to digitize negatives and transparencies efficiently. While going through boxes, I uncovered a treasure trove of images from 1980. At the time, the original band Kansas was a client. I photographed them in my studio, on location, and even while traveling on tour.

To demonstrate my digitizing process—and to revisit some of those images—I put my Platypod gear to work.

My Setup

I keep one light box handy for viewing and selecting images, and another light box dedicated to copying. From an art store, I picked up 1-inch and 1/4-inch black foam core board and cut a sliding track for my Platypod Max. This allows me to reposition the camera quickly depending on the format I’m working with—35mm mounted slides, 2¼, 2¾, 4x5, or 35mm strips.

For this particular session, I mounted a 50mm Tilt-Shift lens to my Platypod Elite. My iPad connected to the camera via Wi-Fi, letting me adjust and capture images wirelessly. To document the process, I used the Platypod Delta along with the new iPad Tab and Maggrip to hold my phone for some behind-the-scenes shots.

The entire process—from selecting transparencies to photographing them—took only 15 minutes. Simple, efficient, and effective.

Equipment Used

• Camera with macro or tilt-shift lens (I used a 50mm Tilt-Shift)

• Platypod Max with Platypod Elite (as a stable, sliding copy setup)

• Two light boxes (one for viewing, one for copying)

• Black foam core board (1-inch and 1/4-inch, cut into a sliding track)

• iPad or tablet (for wireless camera control)

• Platypod Delta and Platypod Tab (for mounting accessories)

• Platypod MagGrip (to hold a phone for behind-the-scenes shots)

Thanks a lot to Eddie Tapp for this ingenious use of Platypod gear to bring the past back to life! Check out more from Eddie on his website!