Cultural Heritage Imaging

CHI is an incredible resource doing good work to help preserve cultural heritage. I have taken two training courses with them and over the past ten years have used their materials and workflows to improve the quality of capture processes, ensuring that the work I do as an imaging specialist is precise and accurate. There is no other organization doing kind of work, and I'm continually impressed by the quality of their offerings.

I attended CHI's 4-day photogrammetry training in January of this year, which was a great combination of hands-on practice and detailed theory. As a complete beginner, I was new to photogrammetry, but Carla, Mark, and Marlin were extremely patient in answering my novice questions. Fortunately, our class was not too large, allowing for plenty of one-on-one attention, which greatly helped my understanding of the material. I'm now looking forward to taking their RTI class as well, as both photogrammetry and RTI are essential in cultural heritage preservation.

CHI is the gold-standard of photogrammetry and 3D modeling technique and education. I was a beginner when I attended their course and over the space of a week, Carla, Mark and Marlin were able to teach me the proper techniques of photo capture, error reduction and building arhival-quality 3D models. Their 20+ years of experience (each!), is a true treasure that must be kept alive to enable future generations to preserve cultural heritage artifacts, objects and sites.

The CHI training was eye-opening, engaging, and knowledge packed. Carla, Mark, and Marlin have taken years of experience, a tried and tested scientific methodology, and combined that with a hands on approach you won't find anywhere else. The work they do both capturing and teaching is invaluable and their passion and sense of purpose is infectious. Personally, the photo capture process was entirely new and I felt the lectures, demos, and going through it built a really strong foundation to continue working off of.

I had the great pleasure of working with CHI on a digital conservation project for the San Francisco Art Institute where I was the Diego Rivera Program Manager, a Mellon-funded initiative of SFAI to conserve its Diego Rivera fresco and create community collaborations and fresco-related educational programming. Carla, Mark, and the entire CHI team provided an invaluable service by digitally conserving SFAI's Diego Rivera fresco in the wake of SFAI's abrupt closure.
Now, CHI together with former SFAI staff, including current staff at the newly formed SFAI Legacy Foundation and Archive, are working together to finalize the launch of a website that shares this digital version of the fresco with the world, thanks to hosting by Stanford Libraries. This resource will be of immense value to researchers, students, artists, historians, and anyone interested in the Mexican Mural Movement and Latine art history. In closing, CHI is a model for the critically important work of conservation of cultural heritage around the world and deserves support from all of us.
Zoya Kocur, PhD

CHI has taught a rigorous, clear method for documenting and preserving cultural treasures with computational photography. The applications of RTI and photogrammetry have a transformative effect on the way we can learn from objects, and CHI's careful guidance has been integral to the success of some of the finest imaging I've seen.

I'm an archaeologist, working at a University where we train our students in digital research methods, and had been doing photogrammetry for a number of years when I took CHI's course. The training they provided far exceeded my expectations and really helped me to hone in on ways to improve my photography skills, equipment/setup, and processing of photosets to produce high-quality models. I would recommend this course for people of any skill level - no matter how much or little you may know already, you will learn a LOT.

I was pleased and grateful to work with Cultural Heritage Images when I needed images for an academic article. Carla facilitated images of two panels from Diego Rivera's "Pan American Unity" mural, drawing from the virtual mural that CHI had created in conjunction with the Diego Rivera Mural Project of City College of San Francisco. She was very quick to respond to my requests, explained the processes clearly, and anticipated many of my and my publisher's needs. The images are of extraordinary quality.

I'm new to 3D imaging and I needed some formal training in photogrammetry for an upcoming project for my institution. I had heard nothing but great things about CHI and signed up for the photogrammetry classes, they not only prepared me for my upcoming project but far exceeded my expectations and provided me with institutional knowledge to share with my colleagues.

After the training, they even had an opportunity travel to the east coast and drop in on the photogrammetry project I was working to provide further instruction.

The team over at CHI are very passionate and knowledgeable, and we will continue to work with them on future projects and I will definitely recommend any colleagues interested in photogrammetry to take their training.

Carla's RTI training was excellent! She skillfully utilized our resources to ensure we achieved the best possible results. What impressed me most was her ability to explain the technology in a way that resonated with staff members of varying photography backgrounds. Carla's approach was both approachable and informative, creating an engaging learning environment for all participants. Thanks to her guidance, we feel confident in our ability to integrate RTI effectively into our workflows.

When our institution was seeking to understand the technique and principles of photogrammetry more deeply, we sought the expertise of CHI, who are some of the big proponents of using photogrammetry for heritage documentation, with heavy emphasis on the science and rigor that underlay good photogrammetry practice. Their special care to communicate and underscore the importance of following repeatable, rules-based capture and processing practices when implementing this technique is invaluable to the heritage imaging community, as it is of the utmost importance for documentation, monitoring, and archiving that we are consistently and repeatably producing highly accurate, measurable 3D models of our precious tangible heritage. It was an absolute pleasure to learn these principles and CHI's rules-based approach during one of their workshops, and found their enthusiastic, hands-on teaching methods engaging and particularly meaningful to our community--a community of learners who learn best by moving and doing. The impact that their practical training, as well as the inspiration of their community-focused mission and values, are all lessons we are carrying forward with us as we continue to grow our 3D imaging capabilities.

I had a great experience volunteering with Cultural Heritage Imaging. Having no background in the field, I didn't know if I could contribute in any way, but there were several projects on the backburner for me. My reward was learning about the CHI's amazing mission: empowering native cultures to document their history and tell their own stories. I became very inspired learning about this mission and the myriad ways CHI staff have contributed their time, knowledge and resources. Because my personal pursuits are very much inline with CHI values, it's given me so much to consider as I move forward.

Participating in training conducted by Cultural Heritage Image and their team has provided our Hawaiʻi non-profit with new tools to conduct place-based field (archaeology) methods and a new tool to document and care for our natural and cultural sites and resources. Additionally, it has provided us with the equipment needed to teach this skill to communities across Hawaiʻi. We appreciate the passion and innovative methods put forth by Cultural Heritage Imaging!

This group of people are not only amazing individuals but also incredible teachers. I will be using the skills I have learned from this training for a long time, and have already achieved many goals because of it. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for gaining these impressive skills that will allow me to continue conserving important cultural artifacts and locations. Not only was this group kind and patient, they were also one of the most culturally sensitive groups I have ever met. Thank you!

Our training with CHI has been invaluable to me as an individual, a professional, and my community. RTI and photogrammetry skills will allow us to capture our cultural heritage ourselves, giving us the ability to preserve but also more easily disseminate some of that captured data to our community. Utilizing these new tools to more effectively tell stories, helping our community stay connected with our ancestors or even reconnect with them. Carla, Mark, and Marlin were patent with us, very knowledgeable, and passionate about their work. They tailored the training to accommodate our project. They helped boost our photographing skills to utilize the RTI and photogrammetry fully. They are even willing to follow up with us to make sure we can troubleshoot when we are fully involved in the process. I can not say enough about the training and team; I hope others can take this invaluable training. In this small way, I hope to support CHI with my words, so others can hear me figuratively scream from the rooftops how much I value this training.

I am delighted to share my extraordinary experience with Cultural Heritage Imaging during my recent collaboration with them in human anatomy research. The CHI team exemplified professionalism and dedication to their craft. Their commitment to their mission was evident in every step of the process.

One of the aspects that struck me most about CHI was their attention to detail. They meticulously planned the imaging sessions, ensuring that all the necessary equipment and resources were readily available. The team took the time to understand the specific requirements of my research, allowing for a tailored approach that was both efficient and effective. Their knowledge and expertise in the field of scientific imaging were exceptional, and their ability to adapt to the unique challenges posed by human anatomy research was truly impressive.

Their technical proficiency was evident in their ability to capture high-quality RTI images, revealing intricate details that were crucial for my research. I wholeheartedly recommend CHI to any researcher or institution seeking top-notch scientific imaging, as their expertise, professionalism, and passion will undoubtedly elevate any project.

I have confidence that CHI is the best organization dedicated to scientific imaging. At every turn during the workshop I attended, they explained their choices and trade-offs. They prioritize scientific accuracy in photogrammetry - work that is reproducible and with measurable error. I had a lot of fun learning about all the complexities of photogrammetry. It is a challenging subject to learn, but CHI's handy notes booklet made it simple to keep up (and also to look back and remember).

As a field archaeologist and professor at a small liberal arts college, I struggle with how to capture the most data in the field to then process and sift it during the long Minnesota winter. RTI and Photogrammetry have been great tools only because CHI's philosophy of democratizing knowledge. The generosity of Carla, Mark and Marlin is nearly overwhelming. They share their expertise easily, tailor instruction and training to individual projects and create an equitable learning environment. All of this is unique to someone like me, who is used to academic silos and proprietary knowledge. I have done the training program twice, in 2016 and 2023 and each time came away with so much that I can pass on to my students and the rural communities where I excavate.

CHI is absolutely the gold standard for learning about photogrammetry and scientific photography. Their training in spring of 2023 was phenomenal. The level of detail and skill taught was much higher than I ever would have been able to learn on my own, and it was clear that they were deeply committed to capturing cultural material with scientific accuracy and precision. The skills CHI has provided give me the ability to not just photograph materials, but the truly preserve them in a scientific way through computational photography and that is invaluable to me in the field of archaeology. Thank you so much to everyone at CHI!

CHI works to put the power of digital imaging into the hands of those who need it. They work and teach to a staggeringly high level. They are passionate about and dedicated to making documentably high accuracy imaging available to everyone. Their processes and instruction make it possible for me to do my work.

CHI is made up of incredibly knowledgeable individuals working in 3D capture, photogrammetry, and a scientific method for rendering the best models. I learned so much from my training that I wouldn't otherwise have ever found just by searching online resources. Their work and expertise are invaluable in the field of preserving cultural heritage and creating digital access for communities to engage with.

Having attended the Photogrammetry class earlier this year was an absolute key in not only understanding the process but mainly in performing my job and completing a dinosaur trackways photogrammetry project which entailed working with thousands of photos. The training was clear, practical and well organized. I would not have been able to complete the project without the excellent training that was provided. Future photogrammetry projects can now be planned and executed knowing that I have the tools, knowledge, and skills to do the job and do it well.

Our work with Culture Heritage Imaging (CHI) in Puerto Rico allowed us to engage with our ancient historical heritage in a completely novel fashion, providing us the tools to document its complexity in ways that were completely unbeknownst to us. CHI not only produced high-resolution imagery of our artifacts and rock art, but also allowed us to acquire the necessary skills in RTI and photogrammetry so that we can continue to showcase our rich cultural patrimony to the people of our island. Non-profits such as CHI not only are fundamental for expanding our knowledge about new techniques in digital imaging to visually preserve our past vestiges, but also in ensuring that peoples like us can gain the necessary skills to do it ourselves.

As a cultural anthropologist, I am grateful for Cultural Heritage Imaging's (CHI) dedication to accurately preserving cultural artifacts for future generations. CHI is playing a crucial role in ongoing efforts to democratize the process of cultural documentation by empowering diverse groups of stakeholders to tell their own stories on their own terms. Carla, Mark, and Marlin are excellent instructors who meet stakeholders at whatever skill level they have and expertly guide them along. I highly recommend CHI to both those needing technical training in the field as well as those who wish to support ongoing efforts to preserve the world's endangered cultural, historic, and artistic works.

CHI's work in documenting and preserving high-quality digital images of vulnerable cultural treasures is critical. I've seen ancient petroglyphs damaged by weather or vandals, and the loss is immeasurable. CHI respects the heritage and people who produced or inherited these works, and trains them to use leading edge technologies, rather than controlling and monetizing the tools. CHI creatively adapts their technology to the sites and condition of the artifacts and artwork, making preservation broadly accessible. In many cases, CHI's consultancy has helped local advocates demonstrate the value of documenting these materials, raising the priority with governmental bodies. We all benefit from CHI's work, and I'm proud to be a financial supporter. Leesy

CHI is comprised of a fantastic, passionate team. Both Mark and Carla have outstanding knowledge in the field of digitizing artifacts, and there is no one better at developing solutions with digital photography tools than Marlin. They seek to share knowledge in 2D+ and 3D digitization, and have developed a digital lab notebook that contains the framework for capturing details of the object and the necessary data for archiving. I highly recommend supporting their work since there are few organizations that develop software and the techniques to capture our shared cultural heritage.

I really appreciated the two-pronged approach undertaken by the CHI team to introduce photogrammetry concepts to my small cohort. Not only did we walk away with hands-on experience and practical checklists (the "how"), but they also provided a context and philosophy for "why" to use these photographic methods. I thought that I would pocket the knowledge gleaned from this workshop, for use at a later undetermined date...yet one week later, I enacted the entire process end-to-end in my imaging lab to shoot extremely oversized material that, due to fragility, could be photographed no other way. The class is well-paced and the content is adaptable for novices as well as experts--I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this class for anyone working in cultural heritage at any level.

I participated in the spring '22 Photogrammetry training workshop. I had done some previous work with 3D imaging but this was my first introduction to photogrammetry and it was excellent. The CHI staff are all extremely knowledgeable and are great instructors, and the workshop includes a lot of hands-on experience in addition to lecture. I felt I walked away with a solid grasp of the techniques and the reasoning behind them and have already been able to put them into practice. The importance of the work that CHI is doing in making these techniques more available and accessible (not only through this workshop but on their website and through their other collaborations) really can't be overstated.

We have worked with CHI over the years and several of our team members were introduced to photogrammetry through their excellent training workshops. While the tools have evolved, the process-driven techniques for capture and accurate measurement have stood the test of time and that’s the hallmark of excellent technical education.

I took the 4-day Photogrammetery course with them in the Spring of 2022, and it exceeded my expectations. I had already done some photogrammetery and RTI on my own and had been successful (thanks in large part to the abundance of resources they have on their website that teach you how to do both), but this workshop helped me answer questions I didn't even know that I had. It was incredibly thorough, and I walked away with a skill I was able to start using right away.

The Staff of CHI are all incredible people, some of the best at what they do in the world, so to be able to learn from them is a real gift. They are also amazing collaborators that work on so many different projects that it is easy to lose track. The work they do is of incredible quality, and the contributions they are making to the field will have wide-reaching impacts for years to come.

I collaborated with CHI in order to have a figurine from the biblical period imaged through RTI. This figurine has exceptional paint preserved, and by imaging it, I was able to study it more deeply while also preserving it for future generations. It seems safe to say the RTIs procured will last longer than the paint that remains on this artifact. Carla took so much care discussing possible imaging options with me, and even set up a meeting prior to our imaging session to make sure the CHI team understood my goals. As an individual scholar, I was a smaller-scale client, but they gave me the highest level of attention, and were even excited by my study questions. They are very professional and also have a natural instinct to educate. RTI was completely new to me, but within days I felt proficient in the software thanks to the support of the CHI team. CHI offers a wealth of information and expertise, and I highly recommend CHI to anyone interested in imaging artifacts. Thank you Carla, Mark, and Marlin, you have deepened my studies and given me one of the most exciting days in my life as a scholar!

I have been volunteering with CHI over the summer and I have nothing but positive things to say about how they conduct themselves as an organization. I am deeply invested in their mission of democratizing technology, preventing the spread of digital colonialism, and supporting communities' continued sovereignty over their own cultural narratives. CHI's small team is dedicated to completing thoughtful and thorough work and they commit their full range of resources, expertise, and attention to every project or collaboration they are a part of. Even though I have only been involved with the organization for a short time, it has truly been a privilage to volunteer with CHI and learn more about the world of 3D imaging and the preservation of cultural heritage.

My journey with photogrammetry and RTI started with the wonderful team at CHI. I remember a long time ago when I was just an intern looking to soak up as much information as I could, and it was the CHI website and the exciting resources the CHI team shared with the industry that gave me the insight and the guiding introduction that I needed.

Without CHI being a leader and a willing teacher, I would not be where I am today. The skills I have, the understanding that I have, and the career position I have all can be traced back to the impact CHI has had on myself and the industry. Now later in my career, CHI’s training is still the guiding force behind my knowledge and understanding for photogrammetry and RTI.

Their commitment to growing industry knowledge and the resources they provide make them truly a trusted partner. As such, CHI has become a cornerstone in the cultural heritage imaging community due to their relentless contributions to the industry. I could not praise them enough for the wonderful impact they have had on me and so many others.

I work in the cultural resource management field, specializing in working with geographically remote Tribal organizations. The skills that can be taught by CHI allow individuals to photograph pieces, and share a 3D model of that piece to anyone who would like to see it. Native artists can examine past creations that they would otherwise never see for inspiration or guidance. The ability to show children 3D models of traditional regalia as they create their own, or being able to accurately recreate artwork that is hundreds of years old that they would otherwise never see, is incredible. CHI's focus on teaching these skills to indigenous communities so that they have the ability to choose what to document and decide what is important to them, is admirable and should be supported.

Having worked with and alongside Cultural Heritage Imaging and having attended one of their training weeks I am confident to say that CHI are among the most knowledgeable cultural imaging professionals in the world.
The team is professional and relatable and it is a joy to work with. In addition, I can not stress enough how valuable their contribution is to our sector. CHI is willing to share software and knowledge for free and works tirelessly to improve digitisation standards and practices.

After 18 years, CHI continues to work with some of the finest cultural institutions in the world, while remaining committed to making its technologies and methods accessible to even the smallest museums and cultural communities. CHI has received prestigious grants (e.g. from the NEH in June 2020) and earned the high regard of its many collaborators. As a member of the board, I see how dedicated the team is to its mission and how hard members work to achieve it. I'm proud to support CHI!

Wow! Cultural Heritage Imaging is such an awesome organization, dedicated to accurately recording invaluable cultural artifacts for posterity. Marlin, Carla, Mark - such amazing, kind, patient people who are compassionate about capturing images - and hearts of others - through dynamic, hands-on, instruction. CHI far exceeded my expectations.
Dr. Michael Livingston
Anchorage, Alaska

I met the principals of CHI at a conference on computer applications in archaeology in 2006. Little did I know that their work would become central to my own for the next 15 years! I have worked with them in the field in Crimea, teaching local colleagues how to capture and process data for reflectance transformation imaging; I have taken a photogrammetry course with them as part of a training grant they received from the NEH, which I arranged to have hosted on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin; and I have been collaborating with them and offering user feedback for several years on their Digital Lab Notebook project, which I think is one of the most forward-looking data-management projects in cultural heritage today. In all of these different contexts, CHI has been professional, spectacularly experienced, patient in instruction and knowledgeable in both theory and application of computational photography. I keep coming back to work with them, and even as a collaborator I make personal donations to support their work -- they occupy a unique and fundamentally important niche in the world of heritage documentation and computing. I recommend them in the strongest possible terms. Because of the work I've done with them, I can say with confidence that every penny they receive is well spent, and their projects always deliver. The impact they have had on global cultural heritage is extraordinary, especially since the organization is so lean. They sometimes seem to be everywhere at once -- yet their care, attention to detail, and enthusiasm for teaching and documentation is never diluted. Simply put, they are a spectacular organization, and highly worthy of support.

I’ve taken both the RTI and photogrammetry courses in San Francisco over the years. Carla, Mark and Marlin are great teachers of these complex techniques and have offered invaluable advise for my museums projects. They make is vital contribution to the Cultural Heritage community.

Thanks so much!
Robb

Carla, Mark, and Marlin are a phenomenal resource to people working in the cultural heritage industry, or are seeking to document and preserve the heritage of their communities. They have a level of expertise in photogrammetric documentation techniques that is rare in the field. They have demonstrated the true capability of this technology. In recent years these methods have become more widely available and "user friendly", but this has also resulted in the production of countless unscientific 3-D representations of heritage objects and places. Cultural Heritage Imaging has empowered heritage professionals to produce high quality models. They have also worked to document rare and structurally complex objects at resolutions that enable experts from around the world to digitally access and interpret the materials.

CHI is an invaluable resource for the field of cultural heritage preservation worldwide. I have taken two courses with their team in the past decade, both connected to graduate programs in art conservation. I could not speak more highly of their work. Carla, Mark, and Marlin are extremely knowledgeable, well-researched, and thorough; but more than this, they are all three of them gifted teachers, extremely generous with their time and expertise, and genuine in their passion.

All of the staff of CHI are dedicated to their cause--to preserve cultural materials digitally for perpetuity while increasing virtual access. They increase their impact by training individuals that care for sites, artifacts, and art around the world.
In cases of war, terrorism, cultural genocide, or natural disasters, museum collections and archaeological sites are often destroyed or sold on the black market. If materials have been digitally documented following CHI methods, these digitally preserved materials can continue to be appreciated or even replicated.
In better circumstances, the techniques developed by CHI make cultural materials digitally available to a worldwide audience that enhances their appreciation and encourages international scholarship.
CHI's methods for achieving replicable and transparent models set the standard for the emerging fields of both photogrammetry and RTI.
After taking their short course in photogrammetry I continue to rely on CHI's web training and seminar videos to help guide my development in these skills. I hope to take more classes from them as I strive to apply their techniques in my field--archaeology.
CHI is a non-profit I will continue to support and hope you do to.

It has been terrific working with Cultural Heritage Imaging since 2015. They are a group of passionate, dedicated and detail-orientated people who want to make sure that you are able to gather the data that you need to support your research. They are both able to see the small details as well as the big picture, and work with you actively to develop a process that best fits your research needs. I truly could not be doing the work I am doing now without their expertise, and frankly, deep curiosity about how the work they do can support the work of others. I can't say enough about how extraordinarily patient they are, even with the most basic of questions, and how thoughtfully they can problem-solve even the most intractable problems.

I had been experimenting with photogrammetry for about a year and I felt I had reached the limit of what I could learn on my own. The excellent tutorials on the CHI website had been one of the resources I had been using, but when I saw they offered a four-day photogrammetry class I said to my self, "why not learn from the pros?". I was not disappointed! Carla, Mark, and Marlin are amazing instructors, and the four-day class gave me a comprehensive understanding of how to best capture, process, and archive data derived from photogrammetry. It also went in to the theory and process of getting precise, accurate measurements from a data set. I highly recommend CHI for anyone interested in learning photogrammetry!

I have been working in the area of image-based assessment for a number of years and have had exposure to photogrammetry and received recommendations from a number of colleagues about CHI. After taking their training course I have a completely new perspective on the field of computational photography. Carla, Mark and Marlin delivered an excellent short-course on photogrammetry and demonstrated the value of capturing and preserving high-quality data. Great group to work with and I hope to find an opportunity to collaborate in the future. A+ team

Cultural Heritage Imaging is doing very important work in the field of heritage documentation. The pipelines they refine help make capture streamlined and reproducible, the precision/error of results calculable and data archivable. They strive to democratize their knowledge through teaching workshops, presenting at international conferences and offering free, open-source software and guides. I have had the pleasure of both hosting one of their RTI workshops and attending one of their photogrammetry workshops. They demonstrate a commitment to equipping others with the know how to perform computational photography on their own and are actively engaged in the field!

Excellent instructors. I really appreciated their philosophy to make photogrammetry accessible to as many as possible.

The folks at CHI were phenomenal! In a four-day workshop, they covered an incredible amount of material and hit a perfect balance between lecture and active learning. We learned so much from them, and, since they left, have continued to work with them to finish projects that were started during their time with us.

It was very clear from working with them that their goal is to make this technology available to everyone. We appreciate their work and hope to see them continue it!

The photogrammetry workshop was flexible and thorough! We enjoyed hearing about the work of the group, and the applications of the software for science and beauty. This was a great opportunity to build relationships between departments for folks working in preserving cultural and scientific materials.

The team at Cultural Heritage Imaging are passionate about art, history, and science. You can see that passion whenever you hear them talk about project they have captured. The stories they tell about the work itself, the anecdotes about the shoot, and the demonstration of their work show you how much they love to share. That spirit of sharing is integral in democratizing the methodology and technology so anyone can participate in preserving the world's heritage.

I first met the CHI team through some volunteer work I did with them but I also had the opportunity to attend a 4-day training course on photogrammetry at CHI's headquarters in San Francisco. Having some experience prior to the class didn't stop me from learning so much more about scientifically rigorous capturing methods. They provided great foundational knowledge through lectures and reinforcement through hands-on capturing of small subjects in studio but also larger outdoor subjects.

I would recommend anyone interested in this field to connect with CHI through training, consulting, volunteering, or donating.

In 2017 I took CHI’s photogrammetry training during my senior year at Saint Olaf College. I had some experience with Agisoft and had made models in the past, but the training they provide was invaluable. I was later able to participate in the Illumination of material symposium at the MET due to the training I received. Since graduating I have worked in the Cultural Resource Management field, and continue to use CHI’s methods with great success. In short CHI’s training is practical and potent.

Carla, Marlin and Mark are a fantastic team of instructors. They are very knowledgeable and communicate extremely well. I took their photogrammetry workshop in Jan 2019 and feel that the knowledge I acquired will be very valuable for a long time to come. 5 stars!

Carla, Marlin and Mark are extremely knowledgeable and great instructors. I took their Photogrammetry course last month and it was the best decision I've made in regards to 3D photography. Their insight and teaching methods made it possible for even a complete photography novice to understand. They covered all processes and made sure you left prepared.
They are a necessary addition to Cultural Heritage preservation and a company all institutions can benefit from.

-Veronica

Cultural Heritage Imaging is firmly dedicated to provide the skills, knowledge, and tools to capture high quality data using easily accessible and economical tools. In their trainings they simultaneously help those coming from near zero background quickly get up and running, with methods to ensure reliable capture of data, as well as helping advanced and near expert users improve workflows and solve more complex problems. Additionally they are great friends of and advocates for the community, creating forums for sharing of knowledge and driving the creation of tools and software.

As a collections photographer in the cultural heritage sector, I had been aware of CHI for some time before my institution hosted them to conduct a four day Photogrammetry workshop. The experience was outstanding. There is a bewildering amount of often contradictory material online regarding the techniques and uses of photogrammetry and photogrammetry software, but Carla and Mark from CHI gave us a thorough grounding in methodology for achieving scientifically sound results. They made the technique accessible in both practical and theoretical terms and provided excellent practical guidance. Highly recommended.

I've taken two training courses with CHI. I took their 4-day course on Photogrammetry in the fall of 2016, then took their Reflectance Transformation Imaging course in the summer of 2018. Both were fantastic. I feel far more confident and prepared to use these technologies in my work than I ever would have trying to teach myself. Their studio space is very well equipped, and the instructors were all very friendly, supportive, and extremely knowledgeable. There is just no substitute for the kinds of hands-on learning they offer. In addition to all of that, they are recognized leaders in advancing computation photography methods and practice. I cannot commend them and their work highly enough.

I learned so much from the CHI-led photogrammetry workshop I attended last year. A year later, they are still helping me by fielding questions and offering advice on equipment and methodology. I am a paleoanthropologist working on using photogrammetry to create scientific-quality 3D models of human and fossil hominin skeletal material, and could not do this without the help of the CHI team! In my work, the accuracy of the shape of the models is paramount, because we use the 3D models to compare measurements between species; CHI's method works great for this, leading to models comparable to or better than those created with various 3D scanners. I definitely would recommend their training and expertise to any scientist interested in making accurate 3D models.

CHI's 4-day RTI training was exemplary in every way. The combination of lecture and hands-on experience was ideal for learning a new skill that is both conceptual and practical. Carla, Mark, and Merlin are all incredibly knowledgable and generous with their time and insights. Given the small class size (5 total), instruction was tailored to fit my individual interests, maximizing opportunities to practice capturing, processing, and viewing images like those I intend to generate as part of my doctoral research. As an art history student, computational photography training is hard to come by, and these four days have already proven to be absolutely essential for my current project and professional ambitions.

I was not familiar with CHI until recently, when I attended a week-long workshop on photogrammetry. As a beginner in this technical area of cultural heritage, I could have felt overwhelmed but the CHI experts guided us all through the information at the level that suited each of our skill levels. I'm looking forwarding to putting the training into practice! I must also say that it is always great to learn from the experts who are not only up-to-date on the current practice but are pushing the envelope forwarding and innovating the field.

Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) has been an incredible help to me in my career as a digital humanist. I first encountered them when I used their documentation, program, and supply kit to carry out Reflectance Transformation Imaging while on a Fulbright fellowship in Athens, Greece. Their materials and instructions were comprehensive and clear, and enabled me to create digital records of stone inscriptions of a quality previously only rivaled by paper negatives (i.e. squeezes) or charcoal rubbings, both of which processes can harm the stone.

I subsequently undertook a week-long intensive training class in photogrammetry with CHI at their headquarters in San Francisco. Carla, Mark, and Marlin were all wonderful teachers, and I not only had a wonderful time and made some lasting and important contacts in my field, I also walked away able to implement the technique by myself and even teach it to colleagues. Indeed, I returned to Athens to carry out photogrammetry at the Museum of the Ancient Agora, and later presented the results of my RTI and photogrammetry work on inscriptions at a conference held at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ.

In March of 2017, I attended a symposium organized by CHI at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. There, in addition to renewing my previous contacts and making even more, I also saw a presentation about how to build a dome to carry out RTI. With a colleague from Rutgers University, I built a dome to image some of the coins from the Badian Coin Collection in the Rutgers Libraries, and for our project we were recognized with an award from the New York City Digital Humanities group.

Everyone at CHI has always been exceptionally helpful and friendly, and I really could not think of a group more important in my movement from traditional classical philologist to digital humanist. I cannot recommend enough their products and services!

Last fall I attended a four-day workshop on scientific photogrammetry for cultural heritage put on by the staff of Cultural Heritage Imaging and I cannot stress enough how impressed I was with them and with the whole experience. I came into the workshop with high appreciation of but pretty minimal personal familiarity with photogrammetric techniques and left having been taught an incredible amount information, giving me the best possible basis for growing my own expertise. They were organized, thoughtful, thorough, and careful in their instruction, whether discussing broad backgrounds and philosophies of photogrammetry or the nuances of specific techniques. CHI is passionate about making these important and accessible to cultural heritage and educational institutions and are committed to ensuring that practitioners do it *right* so that results have scientific value and serve the mission of our organizations. Their deep familiarity with technologies, techniques, and cultural heritage practices meant that they were ready to answer any question we sent their way. A wonderful and helpful group of true professionals. I could not recommend them more highly.

I recently took a workshop in photogrammetry through CHI. It was something totally new me, to use in my Conservation photography.The instructors had much enthusiasm and knowledge in their field ,each with their own expertise to share with us ! We all got to work in groups to photograph art objects and then produce 3D images in the computer - Photoscan program with CHI's help ,a printed booklet and talks that were given.
J. Neubecker

I've attended the course on Photogrammetry for scientific imaging by CHI last September. I was very impressed by their professional and scientific approach to imaging, with a strong focus on attaining repeatable and true to life photogrammetry data, as opposed to generating mere pretty models of the artefacts.
The level of competence demonstrated by the staff throughout the four days was amazing. The lectures, hands-on sessions, and the manual all complemented each other to allow the trainees to quickly develop the basic skills needed and to carry on improving on a self-taught basis.
I have been working in Cultural Heritage for many years and the kind of training provided by CHI covers (and exceeds) all the basic criteria I would expect from a course of this kind. Highly recommended.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a CHI training course on photogrammetry. I learned more in the four days with them than I had trying to learn the process by myself over the last two years. I fully support their mission to bring novel technological/preservation skills to heritage professionals and the public through their outreach and education. They are focused, passionate, engaging folks who are making a marked impact on the capabilities of those who are able to attend their workshops. I feel I cannot overstate that last sentiment enough: CHI is doing their part to help usher in the future of cultural heritage preservation and public engagement for our shared, irreplaceable cultural resources. While many in the class I attended came from a museum or a curations background, I was there to find new ways to apply photogrammetry to archaeological research. The instructors often took time to address my specific questions about field applications and throughout the workshop would think of ways I could utilize the methods being taught in the types of environment I am likely to encounter.

I highly recommend the CHI team and their work. I look forward to learning more with them in the future.

CHI provides an invaluable course in photogrammetry for anyone involved in Cultural Heritage. I would recommend their course to any photographer as an absolute must if your institution is looking to get into photogrammetry. The hands on training, the peer learning, and the materials you will have once completing the course should be in everyones desk.

CHI's training courses exceed expectations. They value the importance of hands on experience which is critical for retention of these complex imaging modalities. They teach methods that promote scientific integrity which is imperative when adopting to a proper cultural heritage institution workflow. I learned much more than expected and have no doubt in my ability to successfully integrate these processes into my own professional workflow.

CHI offers in depth yet accessible training in computational imaging. Their staff clearly holds true passion towards advancing the field and teaching others. I highly recommend taking one of their training courses to anyone associated with the cultural heritage field.

CHI is an amazing organization that functions in the truest sense of a non-profit. Their focus is on sharing their knowledge, educating the cultural heritage community, and developing open source tools to help that community thrive!

Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) has made an enormous knowledge contribution to the museum community. Scientifically accurate 3-D imaging is rapidly becoming a core methodology serving conservators, scholars, preservationists, and casual learners. The current rapid expansion of 3-D photogrammetry for documentation of cultural heritage collections is largely due to the trainings conducted by CHI, both at their own facility and remotely at institutions worldwide. In addition to formal training the CHI team freely share their sophisticated refinement of the photogrammetry process through participation in conferences, workshops and museum community listserves. In my opinion those responsible for imaging of many of the world's most significant cultural heritage collections would not be capturing quality 3D image data without the research, dedication, and spirit of openness that CHI provides.

CHI has for years and years engaged with both the cultural heritage professionals they serve and the academic communities that invent the new technologies they use. Their training programs are often backed by grants that they received jointly with universities. Why does this matter? They are constantly challenged by expert researchers on the technical side as well as the arts and humanities side. In my work with them I have found them to be extremely competent at what they do.

One of the best and most dedicated non-profits in the cultural heritage field I have ever encountered. They go above and beyond with every project they tackle and their philosophy about sharing their knowledge and data with the public is amazing. Truly a heart-warming experience working with them-could not recommend them more!

Our department has collaborated with CHI on Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) for the past six years. Carla, Mark, and Marlin are leaders in the field and have been instrumental in making RTI and related technologies accessible within the cultural heritage sphere. Their training sessions impart practical knowledge and their countless lectures at conferences around the world propel the intellectual discussion forward. Additionally, the resources they have made freely available through their website have helped us to maintain best practices long after our training had concluded. Their work truly enriches the field.

Cultural Heritage Imaging are leaders in their field. Or to be more precise, CHI are the only ones in their field, and they're bringing all of us forward with them.
CHI are helping museums, archaeologists, and cultural heritage organizations move forward with digitizing and sharing cultural heritage objects from around the world. They're offering trainings in both Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and photogrammetry, and they're teaching the capture technologies to photographers and non-photographers alike.
I've taken both the photogrammetry and the RTI trainings from CHI, and both have exceeded my expectations. Now I can share my knowledge with my museum and with colleagues at other museums, and we have more ways to document and share the objects in our collections.

CHI has been, and continues to be a great source of Technical instruction, know-how and support for evolving and far reaching imaging. Other reviews have said it well; take a look at the institutions and experts they have worked with. That is a testament to their work. What I can add is how the team at Chi put their passion into keeping these imaging technologies moving forward in an open source environment is a significant asset to the Cultural Heritage Imaging Community worldwide.

I have had the great privilege of collaborating, learning and building a professional relationship with the Cultural Heritage Imaging group (CHI) for close to ten years. Their founders Carla, Mark and Marlin are as committed as ever to the development and dissemination of imaging techniques that empower cultural heritage documentarians and caretakers all over the word, with low cost equipment and techniques. As the Senior Conservation Photographer at the largest encyclopedic collection on the West Cost, under LACMA's Conservation Center, I can attest to the importance of CHI's work. Abiding by a strict scientific approach and a philosophy of open-source sharing, CHI is always looking forward. They have come a long way with the development and dissemination of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and now, Photogrammetry, but they never lose sight of the future. Their teachings are grounded in very strong fundamentals that allow for the generation of documentation (data-sets) with longevity. These best practices allow institutions, collections and archives, to rework currently acquired information to a higher degree of processing as soon as the technology and algorithms become available. Proof of the important work that CHI performs are the numerous grants that they have been awarded throughout the years, institutions of great weight like the IMLS and NEH have contributed to their efforts with consistency attesting to the influence that they have in the Cultural Heritage field. I know that supporting CHI in anyway is supporting the development of accurate and reliable techniques and procedures to document cultural heritage artifacts and sites anywhere. Lately with the current political climate in many regions of the world this resonates with great importance and a sense of urgency to safeguard, at least in a digital format, cultural landmarks that are under constant threat. We need organizations like CHI to succeed if we want to preserve our human collective memory and history.
Sincerely
Yosi Pozeilov

I work with CHI as a technical writer, which gives me a chance to see how the technology has been developing and expanding. It is fascinating to see how it can be applied in such widely disparate fields.
I also love getting to work directly with this great team. They really know their stuff, and know how to get it across to people. It is satisfying to see our work getting into the hands of the people that need it and appreciate it.

I have taken two courses with CHI, focused on Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and 3D photogrammetric modeling, and have come away from both workshops with the deep technical understanding necessary to implement both techniques with confidence.

In professional fields where most practitioners of these techniques are self-taught (as I was), CHI is performing an invaluable service. By "deep-diving" into the computational processes that RTI and 3D modeling rely on, a true understanding of how to produce quality and precise results in any environment is developed. It is this true understanding that will enable the students of CHI's workshops to excel in the field, and to continue demonstrating ideal practices to their peers.

Beyond their ability to teach a fantastic workshop, the CHI team promotes an environment of knowledge sharing and enthusiasm, evident in their commitment to open-source software development. Each team member is endlessly enthusiastic to answer questions and discuss potential applications of these tools. I'm looking forward to crossing paths with this fantastic non-profit in the future.

Cultural Heritage Imaging has a deep passion for documenting and preserving art, history, and culture. They do this through training programs, free support forums, the development of open source software and user guides. A core principle of the organization is to teach people to fish enabling many people to adopt photography based scientific imaging in their day to day work. The organization is small, and they collaborate with a wide variety of research labs, universities, museums, libraries, archives, and historic sites.

As an emerging art conservator, I am no stranger to the value of digital tools for the documentation and analysis of cultural heritage. However, my ability to use the technologies available in an efficient way relies heavily on the work of the Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) team. CHI makes computational photographic techniques accessible to non-specialists.

The CHI team consists of three total gurus. Carla Schroer brings business and tech know-how from years of work in Silicon Valley earlier in her career. She has a warm and direct teaching style that is accessible no matter your photography/imaging background. Mark Mudge is a true visionary; he is rigorous and inventive, and always carefully pushing the brink of what’s possible. Marlin Lum is the photographer of the group and a master at fabricating the perfect tool/workstation for the capture of near-perfect source images. His never-ending positivity is contagious.

If you have an opportunity to take a training course at CHI, you will not regret it. Not only is there immense value to the techniques they are teaching, but it’s obvious that they love sharing knowledge and truly believe in the power of the tools they are teaching.

Cultural Heritage Imaging is committed to the field of heritage preservation through their avid work in exploring the latest technologies available for documentation. I have been fortunate enough to attend two of their workshops now - one on RTI, and another on 3D Photogrammetry - and each week-long course taught me a customized quality skill set that I would not have been able to get anywhere else. I admire their dedication to the work that they do and am grateful to all the funding that has enabled them to share (and keep sharing) their work so broadly.

The greatest testimony to the standing of CHI's work in its field is the long list of eminent institutions that have collaborated with CHI - including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Institution in the US and many others internationally. From a governance perspective, CHI is meticulously managed and led. Over the past decade and a half, CHI has done more than anyone to advance the use digital photography and advanced computational technology to capture and document cultural, historic and artistic treasures.

CHI's mission is to democratize the preservation of global cultural heritage. In over a decade of painstaking, focused work, CHI has built a very solid reputation in the world of cultural heritage preservation and brought a set of incredibly powerful digital tools to conservators and "citizen-scholars" alike . These digital tools combine inexpensive digital cameras with state-of-the-art technologies and enable almost anyone to become a "citizen-scholar," which is extremely important for scale and for promoting local knowledge, authority and control. CHI's team is savvy, visionary, and has proven they're capable of delivering quality work that's been quickly adopted and made a difference.

I am personally a donor to CHI and I am also the director of a new nonprofit called HistoryTec which is a client of CHI. With the help of CHI training we at HistoryTec have successfully incorporated RTI and 3D photogrammetry in to our historical research and preservation capabilities. In addition to being a valued training resource for us, CHI has in many ways served a model and set a standard for us as we are work to grow and develop our organization.

I have worked with Cultural Heritage Imaging since 2011 when I participated in a training workshop for Reflectance Transformation Imaging. More recently, I was able to participate in their newer offering of Photogrammetry. These types of computational photography techniques are very useful for understanding and documenting artwork in a museum environment as well as out on location. The staff at Cultural Heritage Imaging are dedicated to the mission of training the art preservation community in the steps necessary to acquire reliable and well documented data. With rapidly evolving technologies, it is important to have the incredibly knowledgeable staff at Cultural Heritage Imaging out there working to educate the art preservation audience in how to get meaningful results that don't just look pretty but actually hold scientific relevance. I highly recommend this organization.

Richard House- Senior Photographer
Yale University Art Gallery

Few nonprofits use technology as well or to such good ends as Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI). CHI applies the best imaging technology available -- and has invented some of its own -- to the tasks of documenting and examining humanity's most fragile and inaccessible creations. In a time when technology is being used to destroy humanity's cultural legacy it is heartening that CHI is helping preserve our precious heritage.

Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) is a great nonprofit organization that works with archivists, conservation experts, museums, archaeologists, state, national, and international park staff, scholars, and dedicated individuals to develop and implement digital processes to record and share digital image files of cultural heritage artifacts and objects. CHI's efforts are absolutely essential at a time in the world when entire cultural heritage sites are being destroyed or neglected and left to disintegrate.