Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Lighting for the Tel Aviv Trip

Well, I didn't get to the gym on Monday, but I hit it first thing today. Pecs, back and abs. I feel better. I'm really beginning to think that there is something to this "MS patients have low endorphin levels" story because I really felt like shit yesterday. When I go in the morning, I feel way better for the rest of the day. It's almost a night and day difference.

Today I dealt with several errands, including buying some lights for the photographing of newspapers. This is what the set-up looks like, minus Craig's camera, which I used to take the photo.



The tripod works fine and I'm happy with the lighting. I'm just hoping that the archives have furniture conducive to the cheap clamp-on lamps I bought at the hardware store. The lamp the camera store sold me is going back. It cost $20. They sold me a special bulb for another $15. It's going back too. The clamp lamps from the hardware store were $8 a piece. Moreover, they have bowls onto which I can attach a defuser cloth from the camera store. I will bite the bullet and get that from them. My major concern is how big a picture I can take. This is a full sheet image.



If you click on it, you'll see that only the center is really readable. Below is a single-page image:



It's better, but still blurry in places. I'm not going back to this archive. It isn't good enough. This image is a bit larger than a half page:



If you click on it, you'll see it's readable. But that means four photos per sheet, instead of the most desirable one photo per sheet. Chad at the camera store (funny--the guy who owns my gym is also named Chad--lotsa chads hanging around my life these days. It's like I'm a Florida election) suggests that a $300 Canon he has comes with a bigger chip than Craig's does and might get a clearer picturer. So back to the camera store I go. They have a fourteen-day return policy, so if it can give me at least single-page photos that are clear, it'll be a keeper.

Sadly, the lamps are going to need a power converter. I have to figure out if I should be a big power converter and hook a power strip. I've not used a power converter since I was twelve. My laptop works on both currents and I didn't bring any other gadgets with me to the Mideast last time I went, which is over a decade ago.

NOTE: Actually Blogger reduced the image size, even when you click on them. While the last image is readable, there are large parts of the first images that are readable in real life. Just not all of each picture.

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