VALUATIONS

If you are seeking a valuation or certificate for your own instrument, we will be happy to provide advice and guidance.

A set of good quality photographs will help us in making a preliminary evaluation.

Please send photograhs by post to:
Academy Violins
29 Lansdown Place
Lewes, E.Sussex
BN7 2JU
or email digital photos to: violins@academymusic.co.uk

Please include pictures of:
Violin front
Violin back

Also the following details would be helpful:
Scroll front, Scroll side, Scroll back
Upper corner, Lower corner
f-hole, C-bouts

HELP WITH PHOTOGRAPHY

Instruments of the Violin family are difficult to photograph because of their complex three dimensional shape and reflective surfaces.

We recommend that you use natural light, preferably on a bright day, but do not place the instrument in direct sunlight. If you spot any unwelcome reflections through the viewfinder, adjust the position of the instrument or camera angle slightly.

Avoid tungsten light if possible as it gives objects a yellowish hue, and fluorescent lighting is far too green. Also avoid flash as it will create unwanted reflections, hot spots and can flatten the subject.

Place the instrument on a neutral mid-toned background, (a sheet or cloth) and take an exposure reading off the instrument body.

It may be a good idea to take bracketed exposures. For example if the aperture reads f8, take a photo either side at f5.6 and f11.
If you have a macro feature on your camera, you can use it to take the details.

If using a digital camera and intend to email the images to us try not to use too large an image size, 1024x768 or 800x600 pixels ideally.